Negotiations
by LadyDevilBlessed
Summary: Ruffie. Set when Yuffie is 25. Based on knowledge of FF7, AC, DoC and some of On the way to a smile Cases Yuffie and Shinra . Yuffie is forced to marry Rufus, but maybe it's not as bad as she initially thought. Rated M just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Negotiations

A Final Fantasy 7 Ruffie Fanfic

8/2/2012

Author's Notes: Set when Yuffie's 25…which makes Rufus 34… Ages don't matter! "Shinra" is used as Rufus's last name. "Shin-Ra" is used as the Company name. I have not played Before Crisis, Crisis Core, nor have I played Dirge of Cerberus recently. Most of my knowledge is FF7 and FF7:AC(C). And now I have . Sorry for any blatant mistakes. I'm writing a fic with only the knowledge that is readily available in my head.

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Chapter 1

The room stank like the battlefield; full of anger, blood lust and the intent to kill. Those with any fighting intuition could smell it, taste it. There was a want for blood. To those without battle instincts, they only had the senses of what was really in the room. Where they smelled roses and lilies, fighters smelled fear and sweat. The piano was not the only important sound; the sharp breathing of the person on the other side of the door was much more on beat than the pace of the pianist. And what looked like a wedding, was really a funeral.

White was, after all, the color for funerals in Wutai. Yuffie Kisaragi only thought it was appropriate color to wear that day.

Her wedding day.

To Rufus Shinra.

She felt like she was dying. A slow, painful, torturous and inevitable death.

For months, she fought with Godo, trying to stop the idea, to find another way to save their country. But to no avail. And once Godo talked to Rufus and made an agreement, there was nothing Yuffie could do.

Throughout the adventures with AVALANCHE, Yuffie started to believe that Sephiroth and Jenova were the true terrors of the world. She was soon converted in belief. Men. Men were the true terror. Godo and Rufus were going to shackle her without mercy.

Even then, standing in the hall, waiting for the change of music, Yuffie felt like she was entering the psych ward for the crazy. Her wedding dress was her strait jacket, her bouquet her shackles. The armed guards were not part of her imagination, though. They stood at the door, fully prepared to drag her up the aisle at gunpoint if necessary.

A full prayer to Leviathan took five minutes. She had one page of music to walk up the aisle. It was a long walk and she was in heels. She had to decide if she wanted to stall and pray, or concentrate on not tripping over her high heels.

The music changed.

"Walk first, pray later." Yuffie muttered under her breath.

The doors opened, covering the sound of the safeties coming off the guards' guns. She gave them a stony glare and marched to the dirge in her own mind.

Every seat was filled. Her own friends, the only people she wanted at her own wedding, the people who saved the world _twice,_ were shoved into row seven and eight on her side of the grand hall. Most of the rest, Yuffie did not even care about. She did notice familiar Turks and Reeve on the Shin-Ra company side. Her father and mentors filled the first row. She pointedly turned her head away from them. Instead, Yuffie chose to look at the table with the offending stack of papers on it.

She did not even glance at the groom.

The piano stopped.

"We are gathered—"

Yuffie blocked out the minister's voice and started her prayer to Leviathan. She asked for the same thing each day. To not lose her life to the dismal title of "Mrs. Rufus Shinra." As a freak flood had yet to kill the groom, Yuffie was fairly certain that her father had bribed the god with a better offer than to stop stealing Materia.

For an hour, the old man in front of her droned about the duties of husband and wife. Yuffie might have died from boredom. She yawned, silently, but blatantly under her veil. Several times. The minister either didn't notice or chose to ignore her.

"Rufus Shinra, do you agree to take on the responsibilities laid here in terms of honoring both woman and duties?" The minister's hand rested menacingly on the official marriage license. The contract.

"I do."

"Yuffie Kisaragi, do you agree to take on the responsibilities laid here in terms of honoring both man and duties?" All eyes rested on Yuffie. Her own eyes closed and she swallowed, wet her lips with her tongue and tried to take a breath.

"For Wutai. For Wutai." Yuffie chanted to herself. Her hands strangled her flowers. "Leviathan, give me strength."

"I do." Her voice was a soft crack and a tear started trailing down her face.

"Very good." The minister set out a pen. Rufus took it and scrawled his name on the marriage certificate. He knew better than to hand the pen to her. Instead, he set it down and shifted away.

With trembling fingers, Yuffie picked up the pen. She was committing suicide and her weapon was a pen. Taking a deep calming breath like before every battle, Yuffie steeled herself and adorned the document with her own signature.

"You may now kiss the bride."

A fresh wave of tears etched down her cheeks. She couldn't turn, wouldn't turn. Rufus had to reach out and carefully, like handling something sharp and dangerous, turned her to him. She did not make things easy for him to move her veil. Eventually, Rufus scrunched it up and easily threw it over her head, leaving a crinkled mess.

"I really wanted my first kiss to be someone else." Yuffie lamented internally, eyes unfocused, completely ignoring the presence of the man in front of her.

"Close your eyes." Rufus whispered. "Please."

She told herself that she chose to take a very long blink as he leaned in. Cameras flashed and Yuffie could see the lights beneath her lids. Rufus's lips pressed against hers. Warm, soft, unintrusive. He held it for three heartbeats, then pulled away. Yuffie opened her eyes and turned.

Together, they walked down the aisle. Rufus, though she could not see, had the same emotionless expression on his face as they walked together. In the photos, they looked like porcelain dolls with unchanging faces. There were plenty of photos taken. Every journalist from around Gaia came and wanted their own picture for their article.

Outside the hall, Yuffie and Rufus stood perfectly still against a wall in front of the photographers, as their guests filed out of the chapel and into the adjacent ballroom for the reception. Soon after, the flashes stopped and the writers and photographers moved to join the rest of the party.

"Yuffie. Rufus." Godo stood by an office door.

"Godo." Rufus greeted his new father-in-law.

"Come in." The Lord of Wutai took them into the small room. Yuffie stayed standing even though there were many chairs. Sitting in the dress was next to impossible. Standing up was even worse, requiring assistance and she was not going to let either man touch her more than necessary. She had already allotted the time. Rufus stood beside her as Godo spoke. "I'm no good with Midgar party functions. So I will bid my farewell here."

What he meant was, he wasn't going to waste any more time with formalities. He was going to head back to Wutai and start using the Shin-Ra company resources to kick start Wutai's future.

"Yuffie. You disobey and Wutai is ruined. Remember that." How could she forget? "Rufus. You better hold up your end."

"Everything is already set up. Safe trip home, Lord Godo." Rufus shook Godo's hand and the older man left. Yuffie said nothing.

For a minute, the new couple stood silently next to each other. Rufus chanced a glance at his wife.

"You look beautiful, Yuffie." He said. It wasn't to make her feel better. But it was the truth. Her dress fit perfectly, her hair, now long, was swept up into an elegant twist. "Your friends are waiting."

He went and opened the door for her. Yuffie strode out.

The music was too loud, the food too heavy and the lights too bright. Yuffie only spent a few precious minutes with her friends. In which she begged each one to kill her with their Limit Break.

"No." Vincent was her best bet. Chaos might not reside inside the stoic gunman anymore, but there were three other crazy entities that would be willing to do the job.

They left early. Tifa's bar was going to be full that night and they needed the money. And they had left Marlene and Denzel behind with Elmyra.

Yuffie sat at the high table alone and watched as Rufus went around to talk to everyone. He was not wearing his ridiculous white suit. Of that, Yuffie was actually happy. He looked sharp in his tailored black tuxedo. There was solid foundation for women's infatuation with his good looks.

Which was why Godo made it a point to have Rufus agree to the "infidelity" clause. Should Rufus have _any_ inappropriate relationship with anyone other than Yuffie, the company would be handed over to Godo, the marriage dissolved and Rufus would be left penniless. Yuffie threw a tantrum when she saw that clause. It was more a point to force her into intimate situations with Rufus, more so than to prevent Rufus from seeking pleasure elsewhere.

Hours passed. Yuffie had a pounding headache and couldn't breathe. The corset she was forced into, to make her body curvier, was choking the breath from her. She hadn't eaten anything beside one bite of cake and one sip of champagne.

He had watched as Wutai's White Rose wilted throughout the party. Once he was done with his obligations to the guests, Rufus approached the table, intent on making their exit. Then, suddenly, he froze. The one sound he did not want to hear was ringing out.

Silverware tapping a glass.

He had given specific rules. No excessive drinking. Anyone remotely buzzed was to be escorted out immediately. If he found out who had let the one person remain, they would soon realize that Hell looked a lot like the end of a double barreled shotgun.

The clinking spread.

He stood beside Yuffie and raised a hand. The noise stopped.

"Yuffie?"

She turned in her seat, grumbling internally, knowing they would have a riot otherwise. Rufus's lips met hers a second time, soft and almost apologetic before he helped her from her seat.

"Friends! We wish to thank you for attending, please, enjoy yourselves." Then they disappeared. Yuffie couldn't go anywhere in her wedding dress, so they went into the dressing room that was prepared ahead of time. Women milled around inside and helped free Yuffie from her prison of silk and stays.

They exited form the building through the garage. Tseng and Elena drove them to the Estate in Edge. From her seat, the looming gates looked like the gates to the Underworld like she had read in her fantasy novels. Only doom lurked behind those walls.

The new couple was left at their door and the Turks drove off. Yuffie went into the living room upon entering the house. Kicking off her shoes, she curled up on the couch and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting with the headache. Several minutes went unnoticed by Yuffie, then she heard Rufus walk in and set down a tray.

"You need to eat a little to take this medicine." His voice was soft, since it was evident that her head hurt. Yuffie sat up, hair mussed and sat on the floor to eat at the low table.

There were dozens of pins holding up her long thick locks, and it was clear that Midgar hairdressers did not know how to handle Wutaian hair. It was coming loose and tugging at her scalp. Carefully, Rufus eased himself onto the couch behind her and started working at removing the pins. Yuffie said nothing, merely nibbling at the light sandwich and tea before taking the medicine. She sat, still as a statue as he pulled the last pin free.

"Thank you." Yuffie reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it smooth again and massaging her sore head.

"You're welcome." Rufus stood and went to the door. "I'm going to change, but you can shower and take a nap. I won't be in the room long."

Warily, Yuffie stalked behind the tall blonde man as he led the way to their bedroom. Those words, "their bedroom," left a foul, decaying taste in her mouth that made her dry heave for several steps before forcing her mind elsewhere.

For the past few months, Rufus was nothing like his usual arrogant self around Yuffie. He was always polite and considerate towards her. Since she was moved into Edge under guarded supervision, Yuffie kept her interaction with the president to a minimum. Her opinion was, after all, completely ignored, so she was unnecessary in the negotiations for the marriage contract.

Yuffie spent more time with the Turks than with Rufus. According to Reno and Rude, their president was a much the same as ever after he healed from the Geostigma. Yuffie refused to think of what he looked like with the ailment covering his body. It was healed now, that was what mattered.

Apparently, Rufus was working hard at bringing his company to what he wanted from it, rather than what his father had built. He cut most of the departments, as there wasn't room for them anyway in Edge. He allowed Reeve to take his entire Industrial Management and Development department for the WRO efforts. The science department was drastically reduced and the weapons department was cut completely.

From what Tseng told the Wutaian princess, Rufus helped find work for everyone, even if it was manual labor to build new towns or start farms. Even the SOLDIERs were disbanded and sent to protective services or police work. Only the Turks stayed as the personal security for the Shin-Ra power company.

With her own observations, Rufus Shinra was a different person than his father and from before Meteorfall. Perhaps his prolonged encounter with the Lifestream changed his outlook when he was given the chance at life again.

True to his word, Rufus stayed in the room only long enough to change from his tux into less formal slacks and shirt.

"Yuffie, I'll come get you when dinner is ready. Rest well." Rufus called through the bathroom door to where Yuffie had holed up.

Showering took a while. Yuffie had to shampoo her hair twice to get all the hair spray and mousse out. Then, she carefully dried it with a towel and brushed it until it was semi-dry before flopping on top of the large bed.

The windows were open to let the clean and slowly cooling summer air waft over her sleeping body. After the wedding, she had been forced into another dress. Now that she had control over her wardrobe again and was in the comfort of her home, Yuffie chose shorts and a t-shirt. At the age of 25, she still wore short shorts, but now covered her stomach and shoulders with proper tops. As a ninja who loved to run, she hated the feeling of long, restricting pants. Long socks, rather than pants, were more her style and she wore them often.

When dinner was ready and Rufus went to wake Yuffie, he found her curled around her pillow, legs and arms firmly clamped around it. There was a peaceful expression on her face and her hair splayed out in a fan-like fashion behind her on the bed.

"Yuffie?" Rufus had never woken a girl before. He was known for sneaking away while they slept. "Yuffie?"

For being a ninja with razor sharp instincts, she slept like the dead at that moment.

"Yuffie, dinner is served."

She stirred, shifted and stretched, her long legs releasing the pillow to straighten out on the bed.

"Are you awake, Yuffie?"

"Mm-hm."

She reminded Rufus of Dark Nation, his cat. The feline went through the same pattern of stretching as the Wutaian ninja. At the last moment, Rufus turned away as Yuffie stretched on all fours, with her butt in the air. Just like Dark Nation. Now that she was his wife, Rufus didn't want other people to see how she woke up. Especially if she was going to continue wearing those ridiculously short shorts.

"Dinner time?" Her voice was still heavy with sleep.

"Yes." Rufus cleared his throat and waited at the door for Yuffie to pull on her socks and house slippers. They walked side by side down the hall with as much space between them as possible.

They ate in silence. For a little while, anyway.

"If you don't talk to me, how am I supposed to know what you want?" Rufus looked to his right where Yuffie was eating sullenly.

"You don't want me to talk." Yuffie did not look at him. She could survive if she didn't have to think about him. Once she did, years of anger to the Shinra family bubbled into a rage. She decimated the monster population around her town shortly before getting dragged to Edge because she thought too much.

"There were things left at your house in Wutai, weren't there? You can have them brought here." The house was completely furnished in the Midgar style with nothing to comfort the girl.

"My cats. But I'm sure you don't want a dozen cats shedding all over the place." Yuffie thought of all the strays she had taken in over the years. She missed them, for all that they destroyed her house and never let her pet them.

"I love cats. Dark Nation left cat fur on and in my bed all the time." Rufus smiled ruefully at the memory of waking up with hair choking him all the time.

"Dark Nation?"

"My cat… panther. Father gave her to me when I was a boy. Since I could have no other companions."

"How long did she live?" Yuffie picked up on his use of the past tense. "Did she get sick?"

"She was twenty." He remembered that night. His father was murdered. "She died protecting me."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. It's always hard to lose a pet… a friend… after so long." Yuffie knew how it felt.

"It's been a while now. So it's not too bad to remember. Can you have your cats brought here? Or will you have to go yourself?"

"Gorki and Shake can probably bring them over. I don't know when they will be able to get away." With a clink, Yuffie set down her utensils and leaned back in her chair. "Ah, that was good."

"I'm glad you got your appetite back. You haven't been eating a lot the past month." Rufus had noticed her drop in weight. She wasn't allowed to exercise, so she didn't eat even a fraction of what she usually packed away. "Now that the wedding is over, you can go outdoors again. You'll probably want to clean and sharpen your weapons though."

"What?" Yuffie finally looked at him, in pure confusion. "Godo took all of my weapons. Even my paper Tsuru."

"That's because he sent them to me." Rufus explained apologetically. "I was afraid you would do something rash."

"Rash? Like what?"

"Kill your guards, all my Turks, your father and me."

Yuffie let out a bark of laughter.

"You're right. Being told what to do and following rules I don't like hasn't really been my forte." She looked relaxed. It was the first time in months, nearly a year since she was unwatched by guards and she could feel the weight lifted from her shoulders. As if to test it, she first rolled one shoulder, then the other.

"First night free of guards. Please don't kill me in my sleep." Rufus was completely serious on the inside, though he used a light tone meant to keep things as friendly as possible.

"I'm open to negotiations on the topic." Yuffie rarely used her diplomatic voice. It made her seem older than yelling for people to hand over their Materia.

"Good." Rufus stood. "Will you come with me to the library?"

Hesitantly, like she were skirting around a sleeping Dragon, Yuffie walked with Rufus into the comfortable study room. The walls were covered in shelves, and though there were a few bare cases, each had a ladder on a rail to reach the higher books with ease. There were chairs and tables in the room. The hardwood floor was covered by a single rug with a Wutaian inspired design.

Rufus turned on a light at the desk and set a comfortable chair for Yuffie, which she curled up in immediately. Pulling out a pen and paper, Rufus finally sat, beside Yuffie, rather than on the opposite side of the table.

"Godo and I have a contract on your marriage to me in terms of supporting Wutai. Now that he is gone, we can finally have our own negotiations in peace." Rufus uncapped the pen and wrote the date at the top of the paper.

"And what negotiations would that be?" Yuffie sat up, crossed her arms defiantly and gave him her stone gray stare.

"Our negotiations of what we want in our marriage." Rufus paused, smiled kindly, then with a tone that hinted slightly at his old arrogance, then added, "Of course."

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Author's notes: What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Negotiations

Chapter 2

The spark of the old Rufus Shinra, President of Shin-Ra power company, ignited a flare of irritation inside Yuffie.

"Yup. He's still an arrogant bastard inside. Good to know that he's not a completely reborn Rufus. Or else I would have no idea how to handle him." Yuffie thought to herself. She felt her eyebrow twitch. From the grin on Rufus's face, she knew he saw it.

"Alright." Yuffie spoke aloud, leaning back in her chair and daintily crossing her ankles – on the table. She saw the subtle flick as his eyes looked at her feet on the desk before going back to the paper. "You've clearly thought about this. Why don't you start?"

"First is your freedom to go out and fight monsters." He saw her eyes sparkle. "You will be given back all your weapons that your father gave me. But you cannot kill me. With them or anything else."

"I'm not allowed to kill you anyway."

He was surprised to hear that. There had been no discussion of his well being during the contract discussions with Godo.

"Tifa and Reeve made me promise." She explained. "Mostly because they don't want me to be a murderer, but also because the company would get messed up and the people of Edge will lose jobs."

A petite shoulder shrugged as if the decision to let him live was not enough for her to spend time or energy to deal with or fret over. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Rufus wondered if she ever did anything just for herself. Everything seemed to be for the good of the masses.

When Rufus sat there, unmoving, for a few moments, Yuffie cleared her throat, "Don't kill you; check. What else?"

"I'm not too sure how you will react to my second condition, so I will refer you to Condition one." Rufus shifted his weight, as if his previous position was suddenly uncomfortable, when, in reality, he was preparing himself for a physical onslaught of rage.

Yuffie noticed and slouched even more, folding her arms behind her head. It was highly possible that she would try to attack him. As it was generally bad form to kill your husband on the first night, she tried to make it as difficult to reach him as possible. Hopefully, it would give her brain enough time to rein in her immediate reaction. Whatever it might be.

"I promise I will not force you into any sort of… unwanted physical contact of… intimate nature beyond asking this: one morning and one evening kiss." Yuffie's face blanched and she looked like she was about to lose her dinner. "These are up to you on when and duration, but two, however brief, on the mouth every day for one year."

Yuffie shot out of her chair, much faster than Rufus thought possible from that position, and whirled away to pace. Gray eyes shifted across the room, not really seeing, as she walked in a large circle around the furniture in the room.

"One a day."

Though her voice was unwavering, her counter offer clearly omitted a key word.

It was met with resistance. A single sharp shake of his blonde head was all she needed for her to restart her walking. This time, she added her thumbnail firmly between her teeth to help her think.

"Six months."

"Eleven. Don't think I'll settle for a time less than our engagement, Yuffie." The businessman was his natural state of being. Yuffie could see him wear that confidence with more surety than his most favorite suit.

"Eight." Their engagement had been seven months. They officially announced their intentions to the world when Godo and Rufus signed the business contract.

"Ten. That's as far as I will go, Yuffie."

"Fine. Then in your contract to me, separate from whatever you have with Godo, you are not allowed to be involved with women or men in any capacity beyond official or publicly disclosed business." Seeing his expression at her inclusion of "men," Yuffie added, "I don't want to limit or discriminate. I'm just covering possibilities."

"Okay, ten months. I won't be involved with anyone but you. And only by your invitation, of course." The pen scratched out their terms so far.

"What else? You can't just have two conditions."

"Your legs and stomach."

"What about them?" Yuffie looked down quickly, her hands pressing self-consciously on her flat tummy.

"I would like you to have them mostly covered when you are outside the house." Thankfully for Rufus, the dim light hid his blush.

"What's wrong with—"

"There is nothing wrong with you liking what you wear. I would just feel better if other people did not see so much of your skin. It might give them ideas." Ideas like the ones Rufus had to shake away earlier when she woke up.

"You're saying I have to wear pants?" She looked slightly wilted and she sat back down in her chair.

"No, just that your shorts cover more… just maybe seam line of at least seven inches?" Silently Rufus prayed that she would bend easily.

"The fact that you know about seam lines is scary." There was something in Yuffie's expression that Rufus couldn't place. Then, as quickly as it came, it left and Yuffie spoke. "Agreed. But that means I can wear them at home."

"Unless there are people over."

"Besides the cook?"

"Yes. Besides the cook."

"Okay. Do I get an allowance?" Yuffie looked up, puzzled as the thought dawned on her. She would need to buy new clothes to fulfill the newest condition. Her bank was fairly well stocked with loot from her travels, but she hated to spend any of it. Especially on clothes not of her choosing.

"I thought you were working for Reeve in the WRO. Was I wrong?" Surprised, Rufus looked up from where he was writing. "I assumed he had a job lined up for you. He said he was excited to have you in Edge again."

"You… are letting me work?" This time it was Yuffie with complete shock written on her face. "But I thought…"

"What? That I would cage you in here?"

"Well… yeah…" Her hands were gripping the arm chairs and she was leaning towards him slightly, as if she had to be closer to hear him properly.

"I'm sure it will be a lot less interesting than the constant and long fighting field work assignments you're used to, since there is Condition two," Tapping the pen to the paper, the words "two kisses a day" and "for ten months" assaulted Yuffie's mind. Rufus continued, "But it's better than doing nothing."

"Yup. Got it. Home, everyday. No overnights." Yuffie gave him a thumbs-up. A successful attempt in preventing him from saying the words aloud.

"Your income will be yours. Should you require something out of your range or personal necessity, you may ask me." Rufus was writing again.

"Personal necessity?"

"As my wife, there may be times when you may be invited to functions that require a new dress or other items. Those are items that I will purchase. As a token of my gratitude for your companionship." He did not look up.

"You'll buy me off by paying for my clothes so I have to go to parties or dinners with you." Deadpanned Yuffie.

"I'm glad you did not need me to feel like an ass by saying it aloud myself." He threw her a smirk.

"I've got time. I'll make you feel like an ass for blinking in a few months." Yuffie's smirk was a thousand times more sarcastic than Rufus's.

"Are there any other matters you would like to discuss?" Rufus was successful in moving the conversation along.

"Is this contract final?"

"We can say that we can renegotiate once in a while. It does not need to be absolute, but we shouldn't change it too much, or too often."

"How about renegotiation at the five month marker? It's half the time for," Yuffie swallowed. "Condition two."

"Agreed." Rufus wrote then slid the paper over for Yuffie to read.

Conditions to the marriage of Rufus and Yuffie:

1. Yuffie shall retain all weapons and freedom to their use. Addendum: cannot kill Rufus under any circumstance.

2. Two kisses a day (one morning, one evening) from Yuffie to Rufus (on mouth) for ten months. Addendum: Rufus may not initiate any unnecessary contact.

3. Rufus shall not be involved with anyone, female or male, in any capacity beyond official or disclosed business.

4. Yuffie shall wear shorts with a seam line no shorter than seven inches and a shirt that covers her stomach when outside the residence and when there are guests on the premises.

5. Yuffie shall retain the right to work. Incomes shall be separated.

6. Purchases for Yuffie in preparation for an event for Rufus's sake will be charged to Rufus's accounts.

7. Renegotiation of conditions shall be allowed at the five month point into the signing and authentication of the Conditions.

She looked up as she reached the last line, her eyes landing on Rufus's serious expression. She could see very little of his intentions in his face. Later, she would have to play Poker against him to see just how good he was at maintaining his composure.

"Are you sure you're going to survive?" Her voice, highly incredulous, was punctuated by her raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Ten months, only two measly kisses controlled by me. Not to mention your life with an infidelity clause." Yuffie slid the paper back to Rufus with a finger. "Though, I suppose there are loopholes. Like if Pops were to croak."

"You're right. We would, in that scenario, get divorced, you would gain full control of my company, become Lady of Wutai and _I_ would be left with some tramp." He held up a hand, stopping any retort. "Sorry, that was unkind. I should not assume I would be with a tramp. That would insinuate that I started it."

"Pops sure wanted to make sure Wutai will be safe. I'd probably blow a gasket the first day on the job." Yuffie stood. "I'm beat. I think I'll get ready for bed and read a little."

"Alright. I'll be up later. There's some reports I need to go over before tomorrow." Rufus moved his chair around the desk and pulled folders out.

"Working on your wedding night." Words tumbled out before she knew she was saying them. "I bet you imagined it differently when you were younger."

"Not as much as you think." Rufus had pulled a pair of reading glasses out, surprising Yuffie at how normal he looked while working.

"A-hah….I'll leave you to it." She turned and glided out the door, careful not to trip in her slippers over the edge of the rug.

Rufus felt himself smiling as he watched her leave the room. Recalling how he had always envisioned his wedding, he had to give a small sigh of relief that it was _not_ like he imagined it. Never did he imagine his wedding to go so _well_.

As a young boy, Rufus always felt that his father would force him into a marriage with the young Wutaian princess. With nine years separating them, it always seemed like a massive gap when they were both young. Now, it did not seem to matter nearly as much as when Rufus used to think about it when he was the legal eighteen years of age. To marry a nine year old would be like the world ending in his mind.

Also, Rufus's imagination, since he stopped imagining it as he got older, was always full of childish melodrama. Kissing a girl and getting cooties, for example of his twelve year old mind. Or, getting shot by a trigger-happy guard because he didn't move quickly enough during the wedding.

What he was sure about, however, was that the bride was always Yuffie. Since he first saw her as a toddler, he knew, somehow, that it would be her. Rufus was also certain that Yuffie had said her words based off of who he would marry, the circumstances for the marriage and the events of their first night. In his response, he meant that two of the three were always known, and the third part was made perfectly clear as Rufus heard more about the White Rose from the encounters the Shin-Ra workers had with the fiery girl.

With a shake of his head, Rufus redirected his attention to the papers in his hands.

Upstairs, Yuffie had a toothbrush stuck in her mouth as she quickly tied back her hair. She was still getting used to having long tresses. Tifa's hair was always an envious point for Yuffie, but as a travelling ninja, she kept her hair cropped short. But as of late, she was holed up and didn't have the tools to do it herself. Mainly her weapons. When she was little, only her mother cut her hair. As a tribute to her memory, Yuffie made a point to cut it herself. The Lady Kasumi Kisaragi said that hair was important depending on the role she had to play. When Kasumi was a ninja and was unmarried, she had short hair. However, when it was made clear that she was to marry and change her status, she grew her hair out to show her different rank as wife and as a classy woman. In the same fashion, Yuffie followed in her mother's footsteps.

Though she had assumed Rufus had ideas of his wedding, Yuffie did not have any of her own. As Godo's daughter, she was not free to randomly pick someone, let alone have any control over any aspect of getting married. She had run different scenarios, rather than picturing the actual ceremony. Her favorite being, she would bring Materia to raise Wutai into prosperity and she did not have to get married. The other ideas were less entertaining and infinitely more gloomy. First, Godo would force her to marry, her husband would rule her country and she would have no say in anything. Or second, she would be used as a bartering chip to somehow give Wutai what it needs to become more than a tourist trap.

Well, gloomy number two won out.

And gloomy she was. But not as bad as she thought it would be. Mostly, that put her even more on edge.

At least she knew Rufus before they got married. They had been in each other's company throughout the years as the former president would tour the islands and leave his son at the palace where Yuffie would pull pranks on him before disappearing. There had always been the looming possibility that she would be married to a complete stranger and then she would have no advantage.

Knowing she did not have any control over her wedding since she was little meant she never imagined what she wanted. For surely she would be disappointed. The only thing she supposed she wished for was her mother to be there. The Lady of Wutai had little power to sway any plans, but at least she would have comforting words for Yuffie.

Tossing her toothbrush into the cup on the counter, Yuffie angrily rinsed her mouth and stomped back to the bedroom. There was no benefit to wishing for her mother any more. Several years were already spent on the endeavor and there was nothing to show for her efforts.

Her wardrobe was frightfully bare. Most of the articles were not even things she bought. Godo had supervised the packing of her clothes that were sent to Midgar. Several items still had tags on them and weren't even in her size. As such, Yuffie continued to wear the sole ensemble of shorts and tee she was wearing on the trip over. Left to sleep in peace before the wedding, Yuffie would remove her clothes and wrap up in the blanket to sleep. Now that she had to share a bed, things had to change.

The bedclothes set in her closet were little more than scandalous. A thought struck her and she scrambled through the closet in the bedroom and then the one in the hall. The box she was looking for was shut tight and smelled of cedar chips to keep bugs from eating the silk garments inside. What she pulled out was not silk, but a plain cotton yukata. That and a soft obi was all she took from the box before closing it up and putting it back into the closet.

It had been a while since she had put a yukata on herself, so it took a few tries before she got it tied securely. Her book was already in the small shelves in the bedroom, so she retrieved it before climbing under the light blankets.

She was engrossed in her book on weaponry when Rufus came in. His hair was ruffled with the many times his fingers raked through it. Yawning, Rufus went to the closet and pulled out a set of pajamas before disappearing into the bathroom.

Focusing on her book became harder as her mind wandered . Yuffie had shared a bed with others before. Usually with Vincent because he argued the least. But now it was not just a person, but her husband.

"Interesting book?" Rufus came out and saw her with her book in her lap, but not reading. His hair was still slightly damp from his quick shower and he was trying to dry it more by ruffling it with his fingers.

"Yup. Weapons." Cheery Yuffie bubbled up. "I still don't really understand how guns work. Even though I took each one of Vincent's apart."

"Did he explain any of it to you?" Rufus slid into his side of the bed and threw himself down. "Or did he just put everything back together for you?"

"Well, technically, he did not give me permission to do any of it." Yuffie placed her marker between the pages and put her book on the night stand. There was no hope for any more reading.

"I can give you access to an extensive array of firearms. There are many people who would be willing to explain it to you as well. If you're interested." A yawn escaped Rufus and he settled down even more into the comfort of the bed, closing his blue eyes.

"Um. Not to bring up unnecessary things, but what about Condition two?" Yuffie was still sitting up, picking at the stitching on the blankets.

"If you want practice, you are welcome to it. But the contract is not signed yet. So…good night?" Rufus cracked an eye open briefly to peer at her before sliding it shut for the more tantalizing promise of sleep.

"Oh, okay, good night." She clicked off her light and snuggled down into the bed, curled around her pillow and waiting for sleep to claim her.

For two hours, sleep eluded her. Almost immediately after the light was switched off, Rufus's breathing slowed and deepened, indicating his state of slumber. Shifting lightly, she tried to become more comfortable. To no avail.

Through the window, the summer moonlight fell into the room, filling it with soft blue hues. Turning, Yuffie looked over her shoulder at Rufus's sleeping face. It had turned towards her slightly, his long bangs falling across it and his lips parted slightly as he breathed.

"It's just practice." Yuffie told herself and shifted silently. She place an almost phantom kiss to the corner of Rufus's mouth. When he shifted ever so slightly, Yuffie quickly turned over and shut her eyes, forcing her breathing and heart rate to slow down.

Rufus settled again quickly and Yuffie sighed in relief. His even breathing was melodic, even and continuous. And quiet. Often times people asked her if she lived outside the palace for her independence. Not wanting to shatter any images that were built, Yuffie agreed.

The truth was different.

Lord Godo Kisaragi of Wutai snored like a rusty chainsaw. And the poor, sensitive-eared, princess couldn't get any rest when she was in the palace. Yuffie was more blessed than her mother in regards to sleeping partners.

Lulled by the soft sound, Yuffie slowly drifted off to sleep, never seeing the soft smile on Rufus's face.


	3. Chapter 3

Negotiations

Chapter 3

Like always, Yuffie was up before the sun. When Rufus woke, he was surprised and a little forlorn to see that he was alone in the room. He watched the rising sun from the small balcony as he brushed his teeth in the still cool morning air.

Movement in the garden caught his eye. Down in the open space of their backyard, Yuffie fought her way through warm up patterns. She danced gracefully from one move to the next, focusing her attention on the precision of her body. Over and over she performed the same set. Rufus mused that she had only recently started since he could still see her steps. By the time the toothpaste foam started irritating his gums, Yuffie was a blur in the garden.

Getting ready for the day took very little time and Rufus was in the dining hall reading the newspaper when Yuffie walked in.

"Morning." She chirped between long drinks from her water canteen. "I was wondering about something this morning…"

"About what?" Rufus folded the newspaper into a more manageable size and put it on the table.

"We have a cook?"

"Yes."

Yuffie pulled out her chair and sat down.

"Anyone else?"

"No. He also cleans the house. Not tidy, mind you, but dust, clean, wash." Rufus looked at her with slight suspicion. "He prefers to go by his culinary title, though."

"Is he… a brown haired, slightly graying, midset man? Wears a bowler hat?"

"Yes."

"How about I make breakfast today? Special one-time offer." Yuffie had an apologetic look on her face.

"How hard did you hit him?" Rufus should not have been surprised. Really, he should not have.

"I swear I didn't hit him." She thrust both hands towards him, palms out as if warding off his ill will. "I kinda jumped from the roof and landed behind him. Bonked his head on the door. I checked his vitals, gave him an ice press and put him in the study."

Rufus stood and walked to the other room. Sure enough, their cook was resting with ice on his injury. When he went back into the dining room, it was empty. Clanging from the kitchen drew him there.

"What do you like for breakfast? I'm pretty good at making things. Or following recipes." She pointed to the array of books on the counters. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Tea, toast, eggs, ham and some fruit. You cook, I'll make the tea." He grabbed the kettle and filled it with water.

Yuffie dove into the refrigerator for her items and started humming as she cracked eggs into the hot pan, set the toaster and cut up cold slices of ham.

"I was thinking we should finalize our contract either today or tomorrow. Which works better for you?" Rufus pulled out the tea set and filled the pot with tea leaves.

"Today would work. I need to go shopping for wearable clothes and this way I can go to work tomorrow. And get out of the house." Yuffie dished food onto their plates and tottered into the dining room. She popped back in. "Jam or butter for your toast?"

"Jam, please." Rufus left with the tea and fruit as Yuffie fetched the jam and utensils.

"Shall we leave for the lawyers soon after breakfast?" Yuffie tactfully swallowed her food before talking.

"That will be fine. I will call for Reno to pick us up at 8:30." Rufus glanced at the clock. It was the same time he was planning to leave for the office, so the Turk would already be heading to the estate at that time anyway.

"Mr. Shinra, Mrs. Shinra." A voice spoke from the doorway. Yuffie froze. Not because she was surprised from the presence, she had already heard him stand up in the library, but rather because of what he called her.

"Ah, Marcus. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I think so, Mr. Shinra. Did you make your own breakfast?" Marcus looked slightly frightened, slightly insulted.

"Our apologies for using your kitchen. Yuffie was worried about your condition and did not want to make you work with a fresh injury." Rufus dealt with the situation rater diplomatically, surprising Yuffie.

"Marcus?"

"Yes, Mrs. Shinra?"

Yuffie winced delicately.

"Yuffie, please. I just want to say that I'm really sorry about scaring you this morning. I thought you were a burglar since we were not introduced." She stood and held out her hand for him to shake.

Marcus accepted her apology gracefully and took her hand.

"I really enjoyed your cooking last night. I look forward to enjoying more of your creations." Yuffie's words made the cook shake his head with embarrassment before he shuffled off into the kitchen to clean up their mess.

"Remembering your old political training?" Rufus asked her in a muted voice.

She just 'harrumphed' at him, sat down and continued her breakfast.

At 8:30, Yuffie was dressed in her least annoying dress and was standing beside Rufus. They were waiting on their porch for Reno to pull up.

"Don't you get motion sick?"

Rufus startled Yuffie with his question. She was busy tugging at the collar of her dress that was irritating her skin.

"On boats and things that fly. I like knowing that I'm connected to the earth." Yuffie explained.

"What about you jumping off building walls?" He recalled watching the fight in Edge where Yuffie pulled out her gravity defying tricks.

"I always know that I'm ultimately going to obey gravity. Boats just don't touch ground and airships defy both gravity and wind." She held her hand to her mouth. "Urk. Can we not talk about it? I'm getting sick just thinking about it."

"Okay."

The black car rolled up and Rufus opened the door for Yuffie.

"Morning, Boss, Yuffie." Reno was cheery and it just irritated Yuffie to see his smirk.

"Wipe that smirk off before Yuffie does it for you, Reno." Rufus slid into the seat beside the angry woman and put on his seat belt. "We need to go to city hall."

Reno pulled into traffic and drove into the heart of the city. They rode in silence, Rufus looking over papers and Yuffie staring out the window at the passing cityscape.

"I'll get to the office on my own after we're done here. Tseng has your assignments." Rufus followed Yuffie out her door rather than risk getting run over by the traffic.

There was already a line waiting for the legal office and they joined the end of the queue. People kept giving them furtive glances like they weren't sure if it really was or wasn't the newlyweds they saw on the news and in the papers.

While they waited, Yuffie tried not to picture her waiting in line to sign her soul over to the devil. The fact that she had any say in what was going on was way better than the whole marriage thing, so she really had no grounds for complains.

The actual process was fairly short. They went in, Rufus explained what they wanted, the man read over their paper, discussed it briefly and filled in any gaps, they all signed it, the official scanned it, logged it away into their system and they left.

"I have to go to the office today, but shall I take you anywhere?" Rufus had packed their contract away safely in his bag.

"No, don't worry. Shopping, fighting, that's my schedule." Yuffie had picked up some scent of direction from the large map pinned up outside the city hall pointing her in the proper direction for the shopping districts. She was about to step into the flow of morning foot traffic before stopping, shifting her eyes quickly into the surroundings before placing a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. "Have a good day. Try not to make anyone cry."

"And you, be careful." He gave her a look that she could not place. She clearly never expected concern for her to be on his face. "Be sure to stock up on items before you go out."

"That's the plan. See ya!" Yuffie dashed off, melding into the crowd with spirit akin to her old self.

Hours later, Yuffie walked in, sweat dried on her body, hair sticking to her skin. Her shuriken was strapped to her back, so she had to turn sideways to get into the house from the back door. It was later than she thought. Traveling from the countryside back to the house took more time since she had fought away from the town, rather than staying close to the city limits.

"Rufus?" She stuck her head into the library to see him looking up from some papers on the desk. "Sorry, I was further out than I thought. Did you eat already?"

Blue eyes blinked in confusion, trying to adjust to the new darkness.

"You didn't even notice, did ya?" Yuffie flipped on the large overhead light, blinding her husband. "I'm gonna wash monster yuck off of me. Then chow time?"

"I'll inform Marcus."

When Yuffie came down wearing new shorts and tank top, Rufus said nothing from his seat at the table. He was going to have to get used to seeing that skin when it was just the two of them. A promise was made and he had all intentions of keeping it.

The initial promise, the one he had repeated to Yuffie the night before, was actually the reworked promise he made to his mother. She had passed away when he was young, but she was able to teach him a few things about what his future would entail. When Rufus had confided to his mother his fears of marrying the Wutaian girl, his mother calmed him.

"It will be as good or as bad as you make it, together. Respect is one of the most important things a man can give a woman." And from those words his last promise to his mother was born.

"Ah, there is something nice about being able to be clean at the end of the day that says 'you're home.' Don'cha think?" Yuffie had thrown herself into her seat and pulled her napkin onto her lap.

"I suppose you are right, Yuffie." Rufus, with more grace than his counterpart, slid his napkin off the table onto his own lap. "I hope you had a good day?"

"Yup. But _gawd_ I was really slow at the beginning." She chattered mindlessly about her day throughout the meal, but managed to pause long enough to ask about his day.

"Fine."

Then she filled the awkward silence with more stories of the people she saw in the city and on her way out of town.

"Do you ever do anything fun?" Yuffie had followed him back into the library after dinner. His desk was organized neatly, but there was still work to be done.

"I've been a little busy as of late. So I haven't done anything fun since… I got control of the company before Metorfall. Rufus slid his jacket off and his glasses on.

"Wow. That's… way too long. You're saying you never went out for an evening _not_ work related in almost 10 years?" Yuffie leaned over the desk and peered at his report. "Surely you must have…you know…"

"No, I don't know." Rufus looked over the rim of his glasses to see Yuffie shift.

"Had some recreational relief."

His blank stare was enough for her to just, tactlessly, blurt out her words.

"Sex. You must have had sex in the past ten years. A couple years? Sure, I'd believe that. But a decade? No. Stress, work, whatever. Nothing overcomes a guy's need to do the dirty. And you're still in your best years." Now she was just rambling and Rufus could only stare at her. "Surely someone offered it to you. It's not like you couldn't have spared some time, an hour or two, every year."

"Disbelieve all you want, Yuffie." Rufus couldn't tell her the truth; that he had missed his mother's last day because he was off having fun. It had been much more than just 10 years, it was more than 15.

"What about drinking? Reno and Rude are always visiting bars. You never went to one of them just to have a drink?

"No." Rufus began to wonder why Yuffie was so fixated on the topic. He noticed her facial features and commented on them. "This bothers you. Why?"

"You have a high stress job, yet you don't do anything to relax. You're going to burn out if you keep going like this." Frowns wrinkled her forehead as she crossed her arms and thought. "Even Reeve takes time to stop by the Seventh Heaven."

"I'm not Reeve. And you said 'fun.' I do have stress relief activities." Rufus felt defensive. From the crooked eyebrow replacing her worry wrinkles, it was clear that Yuffie heard the defensive tone.

"Shooting practice? Really?" Yuffie nailed it on the head. She sighed, he shrugged.

"It's relaxing and it helps me focus."

"If you say so." Yuffie walked towards him. "I'm uber tired. I'm going to sleep."

"It's only 9."

"It must be my old age." She grudgingly placed a feather light kiss at the edge of his mouth before heading out the door. "G'night."

0000000

Over the months, they fell into a comfortable pattern. Yuffie started working for Reeve at the WRO again and they entered a life of a dual career couple. They ran into no problems beyond Yuffie mentioning once ever few weeks for him to go with her when she visited her friends at the bar.

He declined each time and each time she would just shrug and jaunt away after dinner. Each time she would come home in time to remind him to stop working and get some sleep.

Irritation and disgust was replaced with acceptance and Yuffie was unfazed with her new habit of brushing her teeth beside Rufus as they got ready for the day or for sleep. On the first occasion, Rufus had retreated to the bedroom until she finished. When she made a point to do it for a week straight, he got tired of leaving and learned to accept her presence in the bathroom.

Their relationship, as weird as it was, worked for them. Yuffie imagined them as two bubbles floating around, sometimes separate, sometimes together. They lived in a semblance of peace until one day.

Rufus had been home early. So when Yuffie came in, stormed upstairs, jumped off the balcony and started beating up the wooden mannequins in the yard, he started to worry. From the library window, he watched as Yuffie worked up a sweat before his phone rang.

"Reeve. Why is Yuffie angry?" Rufus asked as calmly as possible into the phone.

"About that…" Reeve went into an explanation of how Yuffie had lead a project team to help clean up the streets in the crammed residential districts. What she had witnessed there was only conveyed by her team since she could not cool her temper long enough to form the words herself. The father they found disposing of his children's bodies was arrested for the illegal manner of removing the deceased. Yuffie had been at the police station when he had confessed to murdering them. She had flown into a rage, only to be restrained by the other WRO members.

"I sent her home, but I suggest you take her to her friends today. Seeing happy families might do her good, but keep her away from the alcohol." There was a tired sigh. "I'll try to be there later."

"Fine. Thank you, Reeve." Rufus hung up. Gave another glance out the window and went to tell Marcus to pack dinner for many more than just two people. Then he picked up his phone again. "Tifa."

"Rufus? This is a surprise."

"If it's alright with you, I was hoping Yuffie and I could bring dinner over for you and your family."

"Yuffie have a bad day?" Tifa said knowingly.

"Reeve called you first?"

"See you soon." Her laughter was the last thing he heard before the dead tone.

"Yuffie."

"Don't. Want. To. Talk." Yuffie punctuated each word with a vicious hit to a mannequin.

"We're going to visit the Seventh Heaven for dinner. I don't feel like staying at home tonight." Rufus had to crane his head up as he watched Yuffie leap up to their bedroom to get ready. Clearly, the outlook of spending time with her friends was much better than beating up inanimate objects.

By the time they were both ready, Marcus had worked his magic and had prepared plenty of food for them to take.

Rufus packed everything into his car and they were on their way. He had barely parked before Yuffie was out and getting mauled by little children.

That left Rufus to precariously bring the stack of dishes into the bar.

"Here, I'll take those." Tifa swept over and freed him of his load. She leaned in and whispered, "There's more people than we thought. I think Reeve panicked a little."

That became obvious as Cid's swearing emanated from a bench as his kid kicked free to run to 'Auntie Yuffie.' She was quickly weighed down with the babbling Highwind child, the teenage Marlene and a reluctant Denzel, and the Strife twins.

Rufus was shooed to the bar where Cloud was cleaning glasses from the afternoon crowd.

"Tifa closed shop for tonight." Cloud explained when he saw Rufus looking at the AVALANCHE filled store. "She wanted it to be family only for Yuffie. Though, she left a few people for you."

The ex-SOLDIER nodded his head to a corner where Reno and Rude were lounging.

It was nice, sitting in the lively room, watching the families play together. Cid and Barret sat together, leaving their wives to tsk and walk away. Even Vincent was there. He wasn't given a choice since Cid threw him onto the airship when they stopped by on their way to Edge. Yuffie spent more time sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with the children than anything else. Rufus was the one to bring her a plate of finger food, since she was too busy to deal with a fork, and refilled it for her, as most of the food disappeared into the children's tummies.

They stayed later than expected. Yuffie tucked the young children into their beds, told them an old Wutaian legend, then went downstairs to chat with her friends who were, miraculously, still sober.

Rufus was placed next to his wife by Tifa, who took the ninja's other side, and was included in their conversation, even if he did not contribute much. They were telling stories of their adventures. A strong grip of willpower was needed when Rufus heard of Yuffie snuggling under Vincent's cape up in the snowy northern continent.

"I am still upset that you did not ask to borrow it." Vincent's stoic voice was firm, but held no lingering malice. Rufus's anger started to dissipate.

"Really. You should have asked. Taking things without permission is not nice." Tifa scolded lightly. Rufus's anger evaporated. Of course she would steal it.

"One, Vincent, don't dwell on things. It causes wrinkles. And two," Yuffie elbowed Tifa into Cloud. "I shared with you, Teefs. We would have frozen and the guys would not have cared."

Everyone chuckled at that and Yuffie reached out for the untouched glass of alcohol on the table. Reeve, across the table, started to reach out and open his mouth, but Rufus beat him. Calmly, he placed his fingers on the glass above Yuffie's hand and stilled the movement.

"Yuffie, it's getting late and we still need to drive home. Tifa and the others need to rest for tomorrow's work." The others sat with bated breath, expecting the explosive temper of the ninja.

"You're right. We should all hang out sometime." Yuffie popped out of her seat and led the more sedate Rufus to the door. "G'night everyone!"

"Thank you." Rufus gave them a grateful nod of acknowledgement to her friends and followed his wife.

When they arrived home, they went straight upstairs. Yuffie brushed her teeth at the sink while Rufus changed, then they swapped. She finished tying her obi when Rufus climbed into his side of the bed.

"Did you have fun tonight, Yuffie?"

"I did." She slid under the blankets and fluffed her pillow. "Thanks. I know you had important stuff to do."

"Taking care of you is more important." He said matter-of-factually.

Yuffie didn't say anything and Rufus laid down.

"I'm giving you a day off." His tone was soft and face unreadable as he closed his eyes. "You don't have to make it—"

Warm lips met his, squarely, and stayed there with a soft pressure for a handful of heartbeats. His eyes parted as he felt her lean away and he looked at the slightly confused, slightly embarrassed expression gracing her features.

"G'night." Yuffie turned off the light and flopped onto her side, keeping her back to him as he smiled for the first time in many years.


	4. Chapter 4

Negotiations

Chapter 4

Rufus woke as a weight shifted on top of him. It moved up his chest and settled over his heart. That was not the first time he had woken to the weight. It was, however, the first time it was lifted from him without his movement.

His eyes opened and he was met with the inquisitive face of what he called 'the Wake up Cat.' Yuffie's cats, the ones that were caught in her house, had successfully settled into their new home. Wake up Cat was named for his bad habit of waking Rufus right before the sun rose.

Usually, it was because Rufus tipped the cat over, that it would leave him alone, but that day was different.

"Morning." Yuffie was holding the yowling cat and nonchalantly tossed it to a soft spot at the foot of the bed.

"Good morning." Rufus rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Sleeping in?"

"Yeah. I was thinking of doing only half a day at work today." Yuffie rolled onto her stomach and rested her head on her arms so she could look at him.

"Did you sleep?"

Nobody had worried about her sleep since her mother. Not even when she woke up crying after her mother died, did anyone comfort her. In all her adult life, Yuffie had no precedent on how to act when on the receiving end of pure concern. Honestly, she felt grateful for having Rufus at that moment.

"A little. I didn't bother you with all my shifting?" Subconsciously, she felt that if she moved, her mind would be able to settle down as well, leading to restful sleep.

"I was fine." Rufus had been aware of some of her movement in the night, but was expecting it, so was not bothered. "Shall I call Reeve for you? You can get more sleep."

"Naw. I'll go at my usual time. I'll just clock out early." Yuffie ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as she hit a snag.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Rufus knew that if left alone, she would end up destroying something or injuring herself.

"Like where?" Her curiosity was piqued. They had not gone on any trips, together or individually, since they were married.

"We could go anywhere. But I know there's a new chocobo chick on the Ranch." He knew Yuffie loved the creatures. He wished he could give her one at home, but there were heavy limitations on the animals inside the city. Keeping one would not be healthy for the bird.

"Can we go?" She assumed he would come with her and her tone indicated that 'we' was not used grudgingly. That made him feel a small ripple of happiness glow inside him.

"Yes. We can stay overnight if you would like." Small farming villages now dotted the lush plains, growing food for the world population and creating clean living areas for people who wanted to get away from the slum lives they once had. Most of these villages had rooms to rent out for a few nights. Most were small rooms attached to the barns or spare ones in the farmer's home.

"It'll be nice to get away from the city for a little." Yuffie sighed before rolling out of bed.

When Rufus dropped Yuffie off at the WRO headquarters, he told her he would be done at one o'clock and would have all the arrangements made before they left.

"I'll go home myself. Don't worry about me." Yuffie gave her customary good-bye kiss and departed from the car. Rufus waited until she disappeared into the building before driving away.

When he got home, he heard raised voices.

"We're going!"

"But, ma'am, what about me?"

"I dunno, Marcus. Relax for a day. Read a book, spend time with your wife."

"My job—"

"Is to relax for a few days."

"I will believe it when Mr. Shinra tells me the same, no offense, ma'am."

"Then you'll be glad to know that he's back."

Rufus walked into the dining room. Who could refuse an announcement like that?

"Something wrong here?" Rufus put his bag on a side table and surveyed the room. Both Marcus and Yuffie were fuming lightly. Why, Rufus had no idea, as it hardly seemed extravagant enough to warrant any level of anger.

"Mr. Shinra, Mrs. Shinra said that you will be vacationing at the Chocobo Ranch today?" The cook had to speak up over the odd hissing sound coming from Yuffie.

"That is correct. We will be leaving today and will return tomorrow after dinner." Rufus threw a look at Yuffie to stop her incessant growling. "Think of this as a time you can do the deep cleaning you wanted to do."

"Will you be taking the cats, then?"

"Tifa said they can take care of them. She wants to get her kids used to animals." Yuffie piped up. "She was rather excited, actually. Something's fishy."

"The arrangements are made. Are you packed, Yuffie?"

"Yes. I'll get the cats ready." Yuffie gave Marcus a slightly triumphant toss of her head before running off to pack food and cats.

"Marcus, I entrust our house to you." Rufus left to pack his overnight bag and to change.

"Yes, sir."

After successfully dropping the cats off at the Seventh Heaven, the Shinras drove off for the distant and oldest Chocobo Ranch on the continent.

"I wonder why Tifa was smiling so much today." Yuffie mused aloud as she sat properly, for once, in the passenger seat.

Rufus had stubbornly stayed in the car when he saw the sly wink tossed his way over Yuffie's shoulder as martial artist and ninja hugged. The president knew why the bartender had smiled all the time while Yuffie explained the crash course in ignoring the felines.

"Maybe Strife was extra lavish with his ministrations last night." Rufus stated shamelessly, trying to throw Yuffie from the truth. "Or this morning. It could be both."

"Don't talk about sex so freely, you pervert!" Yuffie covered her ears and closed her eyes, trying to fight off images from bombarding her mind.

"Well, Strife seems to be displaying great prowess if he got twins." Rufus spoke louder and turned to direct his words into Yuffie's ear.

"Lalala! I can't hear you!" Yuffie bellowed at him, making him jerk and veer dangerously on the road.

"Stupid! Don't make me crash!" Rufus regained his control and sighed. "Fine, I don't know. Does it matter why Lockheart was smiling?"

"She's a Strife now." Yuffie huffed and crossed her arms. "And I guess it doesn't matter to _you_, but I'm glad that Tifa can smile like that. It's nice that she's happy."

"Are you not?" The question was nothing more than a breath of air on Rufus's lips, but he wished he could breathe the words back in.

"I'm not unhappy, I suppose." Yuffie leaned her head by the open window and let the air wash over her.

"You're doing a fabulous job convincing me." Rufus deadpanned, but focused on driving when Yuffie threw him a confused look. When he didn't say anything, she turned over and slept for the rest of the trip over the plains.

The sun was low in the sky by the time they reached their destination. Rufus drove up to the farmhouse and parked.

"I thought you said you wanted to drop the luggage off at the room first." Yuffie peered around inquisitively.

"Like you would want to be anywhere but on the Ranch." Rufus scoffed and got out to stretch.

"It's impossible to get rooms here." Following suit, Yuffie jumped out. "They don't take guests here."

"Chloe said she would make up a room special for you." Rifling through the trunk, Rufus removed their light packs and closed the car with care; beady eyes watched him from across the farm.

"Name dropper."

Rufus shrugged, it was becoming a habit, and went to the house. Scrambling, Yuffie followed. A girl Yuffie barely recognized opened the door to Rufus's knocks.

"Chloe? You're all grown up!" Yuffie squealed and the girls embraced. It had been years since they last saw each other, ever since they raised a legendary Golden Chocobo together. Chloe's brother, Billy, appeared, squeezing past the girls to lead Rufus away.

"Chloe set up the loft. It's not much, but she remembers that it was the only place Yuffie would get any rest while they were here. Sorry we can't offer you anything better, Mr. Shinra."

"This is more than enough. Thank you." Rufus thanked the boy and set his bags on the crates they had stacked up there. Billy left to climb down the ladder as Rufus opened his bag to change into a clean shirt. The one he wore for the drive had gotten sticky even though fall was starting to bring cooler temperature.

Voices down below told Rufus that the girls had finally gotten to the purpose of the visit and Yuffie was cooing over the chicklet.

"Oh, who's a cutie?" Her singsong voice floated up and Rufus just sat at the edge of the loft, watching as little Boco chirped and tottered on spindly legs to the ninja. The smile on Yuffie's face lit up the room and Rufus knew he had done something right for Yuffie all on his own.

As much as he tried to deny it, he wanted Yuffie to enjoy her life; do the things she wanted to do. Just like him, Yuffie had a hard life as the only child of a powerful man. He smothered a scoff at the words "kindred spirits" crossed his mind.

Finally, after many years of torment under the rule of his father, Rufus was finally able to do the things he always wanted to do. Mainly, that was to run an electric power company for the benefit of the people and safety of the planet. Selfishly, he wanted Yuffie to feel the same content emotions he did. Though, the irony of their forced marriage by Godo was not lost on him.

"Rufus!" Yuffie had turned and saw the man watching from afar. She beckoned for him to come down. "Come meet Boco!"

Who was he to refuse?

He climbed down the loft and knelt beside Yuffie to introduce himself to the mother chocobo and baby. Yuffie talked with the baby, giving it instructions to eat properly and to exercise lots so it could reach its highest potential. The words flowed over Rufus and he spent more time than strictly necessary staring at his wife.

It was dinner time for everyone. Rufus helped Billy feed the birds as they were brought in from the pasture. Yuffie fed Boco and his mother under Chloe's watch before they all trooped into the farmhouse for their own dinner. The food was simple, but tasted good. After dinner, Yuffie was content with giving pets to all the animals and getting them set for bed. Rufus followed her into the barn, but just watched as she systematically went through each stall.

Finally, she threw herself onto the crate beside Rufus, wiping the light sheen of sweat from her brow.

"You really like chocobos." He did not phrase it like a question, but there was some inquiry behind it.

"Yes. We don't have many native to the Wutai continent." Yuffie chuckled lightly at a memory. "Actually, you were the first person to introduce me to them."

Rufus remembered.

It was the one time the princess was brought to Midgar. She was eight. It was a sign that Wutai was bending to Shin-Ra's will. Godo would not have brought his daughter for any other reason. The seventeen year old was told to take care of the still slightly seasick girl while the discussions were going on.

Rufus was going out with a chocobo force to survey the conditions of the outside wall constructions. He was forced to bring her too. Through her blurred vision, Yuffie had gawked at the large, yellow feathered creatures, shying away and stumbling to the ground from her lack of balance. The chocobo lowered its head and warked worriedly as the girl cowered away from the scary beak.

"You're scaring her, you bird-brain." Rufus told his steed lightly. The bird turned an eye on him and crooned sadly. "Yuffie, this is Cecil, my chocobo. Cecil, be nice."

Cecil warked a greeting. Yuffie swallowed carefully and nodded in response.

"I have work. Get on or get left behind." The teen was tired of being saddled with the girl all the time, but put up with her.

Kneeling, Cecil made it easy for Yuffie to clamber on. She clung to his neck as the bird stood and Rufus mounted into the saddle behind Yuffie and took up the reins.

Surveying the progress of the walls meant Rufus spent little time in the saddle and Yuffie spent lots of time alone with all the chocobos. That was where she learned to love the fluffy, gigantic birds.

"I guess it wasn't always love. There was seasickness first." Rufus got a punch for his sass.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Yuffie asked. She did not know what Rufus had planned that would take an entire day.

"How about some treasure hunting? You haven't been able to do it for a while." Rufus stood and headed for the ladder.

"Treasure hunting!" Yuffie mentally yelled, jumping around silently with joy. She scurried around, using the sink in the back to wash up before climbing the ladder after Rufus.

The bed was soft, surprising Yuffie. The last time she slept up there, she only had a bale of hay and a blanket.

"Chocobo feathers are found in abundance here." Rufus commented as he saw her shock at the softness.

"Shaddup." Yuffie leaned down, planted her kiss and fell asleep.

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They woke and rode out early. Their birds raced across the grasses, happy just to feel the early autumn air ruffle their feathers. Yuffie looked very much the same, her head thrown back, hair breezing out behind her.

The rising sun peeked over the horizon on their right. Rufus had allowed Yuffie to choose their direction and they were not traversing the coastline towards the north. Something flickered in the back of his mind. A memory, but it eluded him as he tried to bring it up.

Warking, the birds slowed to a stop, shifting uneasily on their feet, noses trained to the wind. Yuffie took their signal and started scouting for herself.

"What's wrong?" Rufus had none of the instinct or training to copy bird or girl.

"Something's coming." Yuffie pointed to where the land ended and the ocean stretched out. "A storm."

"Should we turn back before it hits?"

"It's too late. We'll get caught in the middle and I'll lose my direction." Yuffie turned her gaze to the cliffs ahead. "Let's find shelter before the storm comes."

Together they nudged their mounts and they hurried to the mountains, hoping for a cave. There were many tiny alcoves, but then they were lucky. A cavern mouth wide enough for the birds to enter led them to an atrium with plenty of room for them to wander and lie down. It faced slightly southwest, so the rain would not fall into the cave.

"Maybe there's treasure inside." Yuffie mused to herself.

Sounds of the chocobos scratching the stone floor with their talons reminded Yuffie that there was something left she had to do.

"Rufus, come help me with something." She unsheathed a medium sized shuriken and dashed outside. Gray clouds were already blowing in.

It didn't take long before Yuffie was cutting the tall stems of the grass and shoving the thrushes into Rufus's arms. The birds do not like standing on hard flat surfaces, so even the slightest cushioning would make them feel more comfortable. Both Rufus and Yuffie's arms were filled when the first fat raindrop splashed on Rufus's hand.

"Yuffie, rain."

They went as quickly as possible, but there was no outrunning the sudden downpour. Torrents of water beat down on them as they protected their loads and found their cave again. When they walked into the caves, the birds warked in alarm at the drenched figures. Yuffie shook herself like a wet cat and went about spreading the dry grasses for the chocobos. Rufus followed her example and separated the wet grass from the dry.

"Ugh. Wet." Yuffie twisted what little fabric she could to get out the water. On the other side of the cave, near the opening, Rufus was snapping water out of his outer jacket. He was not as wet as the ninja since he wore many more layers than her and was not surprised when he heard her sneeze. He pulled off his still dry inner jacket.

"Yuffie. Here." He threw it to her, turning before she caught it. "You'll get sick."

The fabric was warm from his body and, after looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't peeking, she stripped off her wet garments and wrapped the jacket around her. From long ago, Yuffie knew she was short, but she had never noticed just how much smaller she was in comparison to Rufus until that moment.

While well fitted on Rufus and hitting his hip, the jacket was loose on Yuffie and reached an inch above her knees. The sleeves were too long and she had to roll the cuffs twice to free her hands. When she looked over at Rufus, she saw that he had placed his wet jacket on a rock to dry and was staring at the opening of the cave. Yuffie placed her clothes beside his and went to sit by him. Her toes were cold since her shoes and socks were soaked, so she had pulled them off and had to resort to massaging them to keep the blood flowing.

"Admiring the rain?" Yuffie really hated silence when there was room for conversation.

"Appreciating the opening."

Well, that made no sense to Yuffie.

"Huh?" She sounded so intelligent at that moment that Rufus chuckled. He finally twisted to look at her. He raised an eyebrow. Never would he have thought she would look so good in his clothes. Perhaps it was because she was in only his jacket and the neckline, though buttoned all the way, was still tantalizingly low.

"I suppose there is no reason for you to already know." Rufus looked at her blue tinged toes and removed his shirt, tossing it over her legs and wrapping his arms around his torso to keep his body temperature from dropping.

"How many layers do you wear?" Yuffie gawked at the fact that he had a thin undershirt on as well.

"Would you prefer me not to?" His words made her shake her head.

"What were you saying before?"

"Oh, it was nothing." Rufus brushed it aside. Like how she didn't like talking about motion sickness, he did not want to bring up thoughts that would instigate other memories.

"Let's go see if there's anything inside if the storm takes a long time." Yuffie was all wrapped up in Rufus's shirts and looked like a smiling cocoon.

"Feel free." There was no reason to stop her from the treasure hunting adventure he promised her. "Be careful though. Danger is still lurking around every corner if you are not wary."

"Is that a line your father taught you?" Yuffie sniggered.

"No."

"Well, maybe it's a line you'll have to teach your heir. Every leader needs to pass down cheesy lines to their successor." Yuffie smiled ironically. "Like, 'every man has four faces, learn how to use yours to your advantage.'"

"I'm glad that you ignored Godo."

"Yup. The line I'll have to pass down is, 'there is no better weapon than a positive attitude.'"

"Or, 'a perfect mask is impenetrable.' If you want to corrupt your father's quote." Rufus offered.

They watched the rain for a while. Speculation to the freak storm were offered, but none made much sense. Nature is as nature does, was how they ended their discussion.

"I'm gonna look inside the cave. You wanna come?" Yuffie unwrapped her legs from his shirt and asked Rufus as she stood.

"No, I'll stay with them." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the birds.

"Your loss. I'm not sharing the treasure I find." Yuffie skipped away, filching a flashlight from her bag. Her humming bounced off the narrowing tunnels as she moved deeper inside.

He pulled his shirt back on and leaned against the chocobo's warmth and softness and focused all his might on the light coming through the opening. Squeezing his eyes shut, Rufus tried not to imagine what the inside of the mountain looked like. Several minutes passed successfully, but then slowly, small bits of memories crept into his mind and he could envision it all again. He already knew the smooth gray stone, the feel, the sound, the hardness. And as much as he tried, he couldn't help but remember. What started as a small trickle soon became a crashing flood.

Phantom pain flashed through his body and he winced, trying to reassure the warking birds that he was alright. But he wasn't.

Yuffie turned as she heard continuous panicked warks echoing down the tunnels. Those birds were fearless creatures. Only something distressing would set both off. She ran back at full speed. She had gotten further in than she had anticipated and even though she didn't get lost, she still took care not to get turned around. When she emerged into the main chamber, she couldn't stop the gasp from leaving her lips.

Rufus was lying prone on the floor, curled into a ball, one hand grasping his neck, the other reaching out for the cave opening, gasping as if fighting off an incredible pain.

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Author's Notes: For those of you who haven't already, you might want to read the FF7 novellas: On the way to a Smile, files for Yuffie and Shinra. I am and will reference some of the events there. You can find fan translations of them or listen to the readings.


	5. Chapter 5

Negotiations

Chapter 5

"Rufus?" Yuffie called as she scrambled to kneel by him. A visual check saw that they were still alone, so there was no attacker. Absence of blood on the beaks of the birds said that he wasn't pecked. "Rufus, calm down and tell me what's wrong."

Her hands laid softly on him, one on his back, one on his hand clutching his neck. Incoherent words gasped through his lips and he only pointed at the rain outside.

"You want out?" Yuffie asked and saw his faint nod.

Summoning up her strength, the light woman hauled him up and stumbled across the floor and to the edge of the sheet of rain pouring down. Hesitating for just a moment, Yuffie looked down at her pained husband before stepping out and getting them both completely drenched.

"Rain." Rufus finally calmed down, slipping out of Yuffie's grasp to slouch in the storm and repeat the word like a mantra.

"Rufus?" Yuffie leaned over him, crouching on her knees to try and see better.

"Thank you, Yuffie." He reached out slowly and gripped her hand.

"Are you okay?" Yuffie had to raise her voice over the rumbling sounds of the storm.

"I'm okay now." He looked up, his blue eyes clear of the pain that had clouded them earlier. "Go back inside and dry off."

"No." Yuffie knew he would not go back inside the cave. Not right away at any rate. "I'm not leaving you out here by yourself."

"I'll be fine. Go inside." He was sounding more like himself; demanding.

Frowning, Yuffie disobeyed him and decided to grab his shirt instead. She twisted him so she could pull down the collar and look at his neck. There was nothing, not even a mark from the pressure he had put on it. Angry gray eyes flashed like steel up at him. He met them calmly with his own steady gaze.

"What aren't you telling me?" She demanded. Rain poured over her, catching in rivers down her face and flowing down the jacket. He mused that if she were to cry, he would never know; so if he were to cry, neither would she. But he wouldn't. "It has something to do with caves, doesn't it?"

He turned away, unsure of how to proceed. It was one thing to admit that he had spent two years in captivity, half the time being trapped in a similar cave as their refuge, the other half fighting Geostigma in a nearby mountain range. It was an entirely different matter to admit to himself, let alone to someone else, that he had become afraid of what happened. Being taken prisoner was not the problem. It was what happened during that sentence that brought the real fear. The black water. The inability to fight it. The knowledge that he had been cowardly enough to accept death.

"Rufus." Usually, he loved hearing her say his name. But the impatience and frustration in her tone made him wince internally. He still couldn't make himself say anything. He wanted to, but the words were stolen from his mind. "Rufus, you don't have to fight it alone."

Warm air brushed past his ear as she spoke. Concern and a peculiar softness echoed in her tone. He turned and looked at her.

"I'll tell you if you go back in."

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him.

"Only when you do." Rufus wondered if Godo had to deal with the same stubborn streak in Lady Kasumi.

"You know I had Geostigma."

"Yes."

"You know why people got Geostigma."

"Yes." She hesitated, remembering her friend who she saw get infected. She knew it was those who thought they would die, even if it were the tiniest flicker of a moment, and were affected by the black water or the taint in the Lifestream, who would contract the disease.

"I was trapped in these caves when it happened." Rufus did not like remembering those years. They had been hard on him, both physically and mentally.

Yuffie relaxed her hold on him, but kept them in a loose embrace. A faraway look glazed his eyes and he didn't even flinch when lightning struck the mountains in the distance.

"Why were you here?" Her hand brushed his hair out of his face as he ducked forward making rain follow the strands down his face.

"Many people thought I was dead. Did you?"

"I don't know. I remember putting you on the helicopter for Kalm. But then we left for the Northern Crater soon after that. We never heard anything about you." Yuffie had to push her own waterlogged hair out of her face. "None of my friends seemed to like you, so I never mentioned putting you on a heli. So, I guess, I always thought you were around."

"Too quiet if I had died. People would have been all over _that_ celebration." It was true. The reason he was kidnapped was because people hated him so much.

"Don't say that. You've changed their opinions." A firm shake rocked his body. "So you were alive and taken. From Kalm?"

"Yes. A doctor eventually got me out of the anti-Shin-Ra group. But kept me here, in a cave. There were others. They had it. He was trying to fix it."

"And you got it here. From black water?"

"Yes."

"Just like Yuri." Yuffie mused. "But you got out. Reunited with your Turks, found Jenova, kicked Kadaj's skinny butt and healed up handsomely."

"You make it sound easy. It wasn't."

"And all the time you were fighting the pain?" Yuffie's fingers brushed his neck lightly, as if trying to wipe away the hurt.

"Being in the cave brought up some phantom pains." He shook his head and then said in a stern voice. "I've told you. Now will you go inside?"

"No. That's not all of it." The pieces of the puzzle were all aligned, but the picture wasn't complete. "You were fine while I was there. It wasn't until I left that it started to affect you."

She stood up and held her hand out.

"You don't have to worry. I won't leave you alone."

Hesitantly, Rufus reached up. Pausing, his mind whirled with his father's voice. 'A true man relies on no woman.' 'Seeking help is for the weak.'

'I will never run away.'

"Yuffie. Which is worse? Accepting Death? Or running away from it?"

"Neither. The answer is: not accepting help when it's offered." She took his large hand in her own small one and pulled him up.

They stood there, in the rain, holding hands and staring at each other. Suddenly, he tugged her forward and folded his arms around her, leaning his cheek on the top of her head. A surprised gasp seeped out as he squeezed her briefly.

"Then I'm glad I ran away." He let her go and pulled her into the dry cave.

Thankfully, the chocobos had compact blankets rolled and attached to the back of their saddles. None of the clothes had dried on the rocks and staying in their wet clothes was not an option. Wrapped in their blankets, they sat beside the warm birds, leeching off of their warmth.

"Thanks for telling me." Yuffie shifted into him, pressing her arm against his. A slow nod was all she got from him as he tried to keep calm. "You don't need to worry anymore."

"Do you think less of me?" He cast a look sideways at her.

"Less?" Yuffie's laugh covered the sound of the rain. "How could that be? No. You've shown me that you really are human. I was worried that I would have to gain another fault just to bring balance to the universe!"

Relief flooded through him and he bent his head down to rest against hers. Her heart jumped in surprise. It wasn't often that he initiated any contact with her. Twice in one day was unheard of. Being more obnoxious, for lack of a more elegant word, Yuffie was always the one invading his bubble by doing things like shoving or leaning on him.

Shifting, she let him settle more comfortably. Making sure she was still covered by her blanket, she freed a hand to pet his head.

"Take a nap. I'm not going anywhere." She hummed an old Wutaian lullaby he once heard her mother singing years ago and slowly drifted into sleep.

When he woke, he found that their positions had changed. They were lying against the slumbering chocobos and Yuffie had tucked her head into the cradle between his shoulder and cheek. She had also managed to wrap herself around him like she did with her pillow. Her breath washed over his neck in even strokes like soft waves at Costa del Sol. The rain was now a steady spray, a drastic decrease from what it was before.

From the dryness of Yuffie's hair against his skin, Rufus figured they had been there a few hours.

As if noticing that he was awake, Yuffie stretched, her arms letting go of him to flex her fingers and opened her eyes.

"Still raining?" She yawned and pulled her arms back around him.

"Yes." His short reply was accompanied with him taking a better look at their positions and had to turn away quickly. Her leg that was thrown over him was covered with her blanket, but it also wrapped around her shoulders and both arms that she had wrapped around him. A flick of his eyes to their clothes confirmed his assumption and he was infinitely grateful that his blanket was still firmly wrapped around his own naked body. It was, after all, the only thing between their skin.

She shifted and he nearly jumped up to get away, but her grip tightened and pressed herself even closer to him. Innocently, like she had no idea why he was suddenly jittery, she asked, "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. You just surprised me."

"Oh. Well don't do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack. I can't die at 25. I still have things to do in life." Yuffie snuggled down, resting her head on his chest now.

"You nearly gave _me_ a heart attack." Rufus thought viciously. That wasn't the only thing she was giving him. He pushed those thoughts aside and said aloud, "Like what?

"Hm… like… work on my tan!" She giggled. "Just kidding. The public school project is still underway. We never had a problem with schools in Wutai because of the small size, but Edge is so much larger. We're able to implement what I knew for the new villages, but…"

Trailing off, she shrugged.

"I never went to school. The only time I stepped into the Academy was to inspect the premises." Recalling the students he saw there, he felt a moment of remorse.

"You got tutors too?" Yuffie grinned. "I snuck into school anyway. But then again, I just had to jump out a window and hop a wall. That's a little harder to do in Midgar."

"Quite. Did Godo ever regret allowing you to become a ninja?" Rufus stubbornly ignored her leg as it stretched out over him.

"He didn't have a choice. I figured my child would be a ninja too, regardless to anyone else's wish. Must be the female line in my family. Mother was one, Grandmother before her."

"You wanted a child?"

"Oh, well, I figured Dad would use me to pop out an heir." Shrugging, Yuffie brushed it aside.

"I'm not allowing that." Stubbornly, Rufus responded.

"Huh?" Turning her head, Yuffie peered up at him.

"If you have a child, I'm not letting Godo take it."

"Of course not, silly. He'd be your successor first. If Godo wants an heir, he'd have to settle for a second born." Yuffie nudged him with her whole body, making him choke. A frown crossed her face. "What _is_ the matter with you?"

"Do you even _know_ our predicament right now?"

"I don't get it." Yuffie looked around. "It's raining, we're alone in a cave waiting it out."

"You are so dense sometimes." He growled, covering his face with a hand. "We're _naked_, in a cave and _you_ are all pressed up against me."

"So?"

"_So_?" He flashed an infuriated look at her.

"What?"

"You pressed up against me like that and squirming. Do you know what it does to a man?" He was straining to control himself. "And you talking about having a child."

"Our child." She cut in. "Not 'a child.' It would be _our child_."

"That makes it worse!"

"How does _that_ make it worse? You want me to get knocked up by someone else?" She huffed and sat up, pulling her arms away to cross them over her breasts, thankfully for Rufus, covering her body.

"No. I'm just saying that having a child together requires us to do …other things." He was losing his cool; fast.

"I don't know what your problem is. We're already married. I don't think 'Married couple announces birth of healthy baby,' is going to be scandalous." Now she was getting angry. "Besides, you came up with the stupid Condition Two anyway."

"Because I thought you would avoid me for the rest of our lives." He bit out.

"Why would I do something stupid like that?" Yuffie turned around, her back to him. The fabric twisted and revealed her legs.

"Because you don't like me and hate the whole situation."

"I don't dislike you."

"But you dislike our marriage." Rufus sat up and the birds shifted from the wave of cold air on their feathers.

"I dislike not having a choice." She hissed out.

"And what would you have chosen?"

"To have an outdoor wedding. To be barefoot or boots, not high heels. No veil. And flowers that don't stink like the wrong side of a Sahagin. I mean, really." She threw a disapproving look over her shoulder like it was ever in his control to do anything about those aspects. "I didn't even get to pick my dress."

"Well, maybe you'll be able to do it your way, someday." The Lifestream works in mysterious ways, after all.

"The point," she stressed, "is that I would still marry you. Though I don't know if I want to be married to someone as stupid as you."

Irritation and flattery battled in Rufus's mind.

"Well, sorry for being stupid."

Obviously, irritation won.

"Apology accepted." Yuffie turned back around. "I travelled around the world and saved it with a whole bunch of stupid people. And I love them all too."

"What?"

"Stupid. You like it when I talk? I have to explain everything?" Yuffie put her face near his. "I like you. Even if you don't."

"I'm going to kiss you if you don't move away now." Rufus told her and slowly reached up. She didn't move, only gave him an arrogant smirk as he levered his mouth over hers.

It was nice for him to be in control of their contact. Yuffie always left quick kisses with lingering warmth, but Rufus wanted to give her something much hotter. He let his mouth glide over hers, tasting her lightly until he felt her sigh in bliss. Freeing his arms, Rufus pulled her closer to him. He had expected resistance, but she helped him by crawling forward to straddle his lap.

As he deepened their kiss, Rufus slid his hands into her hair, pulling her head back to force her chest closer to his.

"Enjoying yourself?" Yuffie whispered when he pulled back to let her breathe.

"You can stop me whenever you like. I won't force you." He glided his nose across her cheek and down her neck, content to breathe in the smell of her and her washed flesh.

"A gentleman. How nice." Yuffie yanked his face back with a fierce jerk and glared at him. "I can't go treasure hunting and I'm still upset about that man murdering his children."

"Shall I help distract your mind?" His eyes were full of lust, but his words were soft.

"That's what a good husband would do."

He responded with another kiss, deep and hard to match her actions of bringing his head back up. For a while, she allowed him to do as he pleased. Then, after he elicited a long throaty moan from her, she kissed him back with her own passion she didn't quite know she had. When she gasped for air, she felt him take her bottom lip between his. Ragged breathes racked her lungs as he sucked on it, running his tongue over it and biting it lightly.

The fingers that were holding her blanket closed, let go and reached for Rufus's chest, scratching lightly as he finally released her. With careful hands, Rufus picked up the edges of her falling blanket and tucked it securely over her breasts, brushing over them lightly, and leaving her shoulders bare for him to rain ghost like kisses onto them.

"You're being rather forward, Mr. President." Yuffie laughed as his tongue flicked over a sensitive spot on her neck.

"My apologies, princess. Shall I let you set the pace?" His lips moved to whisper into her ear, his lips hot on the shell.

"Better not. I don't think the birds can handle it." Yuffie smirked and shifted, earning a groan from the man beneath her. "Neither can you, it seems."

"Don't." Rufus grabbed Yuffie's shifting hips and forced her to be still. "This is not going to happen in a cave. And definitely not in front of chocobos."

"It might help you get over the memories you already have of this place."

"I don't think this is how I want to overcome them." He lifted her off with surprising ease and set her down beside him.

Laughter bubbled up from her and Rufus frowned at her.

"You'll want to fix that before you have to ride back, Rufus." She pointed down at the bump in the blanket where his stiffened manhood was blatantly telling her that they were dangerously close to doing something.

"Thank you, sweetie. Whose fault do you think it is that I'm in this state?" Rufus huffed and looked away, embarrassed at getting caught and not being able to go through with anything.

"Your own. So you can fix it yourself, too." She gave him a peck on the cheek and stood up. "Look, it stopped raining."

Sure enough, the rain had stopped and gray clouds, much lighter now that they dumped their load, floated by.

"We should head back." Rufus was already pulling on his clothes, still slightly damp and definitely cold against his hot skin.

"You got over that quickly." Yuffie commented and went for her own clothes. "Clearly, I'm not that alluring to you."

"I'm sure I'll get you in an even better position to help 'fix' my problems soon. I have better restraint than you might think, though it does not take much time thinking about you to create a problem. And instead of me," he wrapped his arms around her blanket covered waist, "_you_ might want to take care on the way back."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie flushed.

"There's a lot of…friction down there. Don't make me jealous of a bird." He kissed her cheek and went to saddle the creatures.

"That would piss you off, wouldn't it? Hearing my moans because riding a bird got to me before you could. I didn't think you would care so much." Yuffie pulled her hair free of her shirt. "It's only been a few hours."

"Speak for yourself, sweetie." Rufus led the birds out so they could stretch their wings. Yuffie followed with the rest of their items ready to pack onto the birds.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me." He secured his pack and jumped up. "Let's go. We still have to drive home before a second storm rolls in."

"Where you'll have a mountain of reports dealing with power outages." Yuffie grumbled and followed him across the fields back to the Ranch.


	6. Chapter 6

Negotiations

Author's Notes: A big gigantic THANK YOU to my reviewers! Kittie Darkhart and HazzaTL3, you make my day!

Chapter 6

They got back to the Ranch with no additional problems. Chloe and Billy worried about all of them throughout the storm and understood that they were going to leave as soon as they could. Chloe packed up some sandwiches for the car ride as Billy checked over the chocobos and Yuffie and Rufus dried off properly to put dry clothes on.

Rufus left them a handsome pouch of coinage, in case the birds got sick or they needed the extra funding. Billy noticed and tried to return some of it, but the older man just winked and told the rancher that he was feeling generous.

They drove off for the city after Rufus detached his wife from the baby chick and then from Chloe, before sticking her into her seat. As soon as she stopped waving, Yuffie turned to Rufus and demanded he tell her something.

"What?" He was trying to focus on keeping the car on the road. The winds were still plenty strong and was buffeting the car around.

"Why did you kiss me?" He spared her a glance.

"Because I wanted to."

"Bu-bu." She made a buzzer noise like he had answered wrong in a television game show. "You're going to have to explain better than that."

"You said something that made me want to kiss you." He eased off the accelerator as puddles started to appear on the stretch of road in front of them.

"Something different than anything else I said today? Or any day, for that matter?" She mused, not really expecting him to answer. So he didn't and focused on the road instead. "It wasn't all the talk about children, was it?"

"No." He reassured her. Nine chances out of ten, she was thinking of accusing him of using her as a baby maker.

"What was it then?"

"Think about it. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

They drove in silence as she contemplated their previous conversations. The topics had taken many twists and turns, so she had quite a task at unraveling it all. Honestly, it was quite simple. She had said that she liked him. After hiding his growing feelings that were cultivated over years and having them bloom suddenly, four months into their marriage, was almost too much to bear. Almost. Thankfully, he was able to sustain his self control. Years of practice definitely helped. As did all the mental tricks he had created to protect her from him.

Whether Yuffie figured it out or not, Rufus did not find out. They reached the city and wove through the chaos. Traffic lights were off and people were carefully taking turns. Many stores were closed and the streets were dark from the lack of electricity.

A heavy sigh emitted from Yuffie.

"You have to go to the office. There's a lot going on here." Yuffie told him as he finally broke free of the more crowded inner city streets for the residential lanes to their house.

"We'll see. I'm still on vacation time." Rufus pulled into the garage.

"I'll grab the bags. You go clean up. I'll call Tseng to let him know that you're heading over." Yuffie shoved him to the house as she pulled their bags from the trunk.

The shower was running by the time she got upstairs. None of the houses on their street lost electricity. But that was probably be of where their lines were placed. Downtown and the shopping districts were all supported by the easy to install, easy to replace lines. Residential areas had more advanced protections so everyone could at least stay comfortable in their own homes.

Yuffie put the bags down on the floor and tapped her foot as she waited for one of the Turks to pick up their phone.

"Yo. Busy here. Whaddup?"

"Turkey. Rufus is going to be at the office in a bit. We got back early. Don't let him overwork. I want him home alive sometime. You guys get some rest too."

"You got it, shortie."

Rufus emerged from the shower, looking much better with warm water on his skin than icy rain.

"Reno knows you're going in." Yuffie perched on the bed and waited for Rufus to finish changing, pointedly looking away as the towel was pulled away.

"Thank you. I'll try to be home as soon as I can. Don't wait up." He grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door, ready for work.

"Wait." Yuffie caught up to him at the stairs. He turned, two steps down, and she cupped his face, giving him a long firm kiss. "Drive carefully and sleep if you get tired."

"I'll call you in the morning if I can't make it home." He reached up and caressed her cheek, enjoying the small smile that appeared. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine. You'll just have to help distract me some other time." Yuffie smiled.

"And you can help me fix my problem." Rufus took a step up and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Stay warm and blow dry your hair completely."

"Okay, Mom." She rolled her eyes and spun him around, sending him off to work with a smile. But when he locked the door, Yuffie suddenly felt very confused.

A year ago, Yuffie disliked Rufus. Not so much as a person, but because of all the implications he brought with him. Shin-Ra, power, oppression, duty. But he had always, begrudgingly, been good to her. Even when she irritated him to the point of breaking, he never did anything beyond growling angrily and gritting his teeth. One occasion, when the Shinras were at Wutai, Yuffie was sneaking around the palace walls and snuck into a tree when she heard the President's raised voice.

"You will _not_ make this difficult for me! You will do as I tell you and watch over the Wutaian princess."

"But Father, there is nothing we have in common and she makes me so angry—"

A slap rang out. Yuffie covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. Her own father never hit her, not matter how much she annoyed him.

"You do not even know anger." Another hit echoed in the still night. "Anger is what you make _me_ feel every time you disobey my direct orders."

The next day, Yuffie was nice to Rufus, though, he didn't seem to notice. She offered to take him to their throwing range where he could safely practice his shooting. He ran out of bullets that day.

Reflecting back on their younger days, Yuffie wandered back to the bedroom. She had never experienced any romantic feelings for anyone before and wasn't even sure what she felt towards Rufus. Peeling off her clothes, she stepped into the warm shower and let it warm her body.

Washing her skin, Yuffie felt tingles as she remembered the feeling of Rufus's hands and lips where they had glided around her body. The experience was definitely pleasurable and Yuffie hadn't minded that her partner was Rufus. He had said before that he hadn't been with anyone for ten years, but Yuffie highly doubted it; not that she cared.

Or so she told herself.

She never thought of herself as the jealous type. Possessive? Definitely. Though, she never thought that she would be possessive over Rufus of all things.

"That doesn't make it love." Yuffie ruthlessly washed her hair, rinsed and stepped out of the shower. Fog covered the entire mirror, indicating that she had been in there much longer than she thought. "A person doesn't fall in love because a man has a panic attack in a damn cave."

She rubbed a towel roughly over her wet skin, leaving red splotches where the fabric irritated sensitive spots. Next, she dried her hair with a towel, combed it, brushed it, and held the blow drier up until her scalp itched from the heat. Walking naked into the bedroom, Yuffie went through her wardrobe for clothes to wear to bed. Her usual yukata was missing, probably in the wash, so her options were limited. It was too cold to wear one of her own shirts, so Yuffie opened Rufus's closet. Pulling out one of his tee-shirts, she pulled it on and closed the doors. She slipped on a pair of panties and dove into bed.

The last thoughts that she pushed out of her mind before she forced herself into sleep were, "There's no way it's love if we could stop what we were doing."

00000000

The phone ringing woke Yuffie.

"Hm? 'ellow?" She rubbed sleep from her eyes and stretched.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Rufus's exhausted voice washed over her.

"It's okay." Yuffie rolled over to finish stretching and saw that she was going to be up in a few minutes anyway. "You sound tired. Did you rest at all?"

"There wasn't time." Rufus stifled a yawn. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Peeling back the covers, Yuffie climbed out of bed.

"Can you bring a set of clean clothes for me? I'm going to be at the office all day."

"No problem. Want me to bring you breakfast? You do have time to eat, don't you?" Yuffie went into his closet and started assembling his outfit.

"Only if you eat with me."

"It's a deal." Yuffie laughed before swallowing tightly. There was no way she would say that it was a date. "I'll tell Marcus."

"Elena will pick you up."

"See you soon." Yuffie hung up before he could say anything else.

Shaking her head of thoughts, Yuffie threw on her work clothes and ran down to talk to Marcus before finishing her routine and gathering everything she needed. Thinking was too confusing. Like why she was worried about him eating, why she agreed to have breakfast with him; why, why, why.

Bag of clothes and picnic basket were in her hands when Elena pulled up. Yuffie put them in the back seat and sat up front with Elena. There was something she wanted to discuss with the female Turk.

"Hey, Elena."

"Yuffie." The female, usually chatty with her coworkers, was always curt with Yuffie.

"I know you don't really like me, but can you tell me something?" Hesitantly, Yuffie looked over at the Turk.

"Ask. I might not answer, though."

"How did you know that you love Tseng?"

The car swerved tightly as the Turk twitched. Yuffie grabbed the dashboard and door and tried to settle her stomach as it twisted.

"Why do you care?"

"Well…I've never been in love. I'm married to Rufus. He's older than me and… experienced. And well… I'm just… not in the whole emotional department. Tseng is Tseng, yet you're confident in your feelings even if he doesn't always outwardly express the same to you." Yuffie was fiddling with her hair. "So, how do you know that it's love?"

"You aren't cheating on the boss are you?" Elena pulled out her gun and removed the safety with a click.

"Why should I? Geez." Yuffie huffed. She knew that Elena might fire, but not to injure her. "You're too clingy. If anything _I_ should be worried that you're going to do something to Rufus."

"_Excuse me_?" Elena veered off the road and threw the car into park, turning to glare at the ninja. "Just _what_ are you insinuating?"

"Nothing. I guess I asked the wrong person. I guess I'll have to bring it up with Tifa eventually…" Yuffie sighed. That would be a very long, very embarrassing talk with the martial artist.

"Like Lockheart will give you a straight answer. Answer my questions with a yes or no." Yuffie nodded, ignoring the slight against her friend as the Turk put the safety back on her weapon. An accidental discharge of the weapon would be a pain in the ass. "Do you think of him differently today than before?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to know more about him?"

"Yes."

"Do you steal glances when he's not looking?"

"Yes."

"Do you stand closer to him than necessary?"

"Yes, but I do that to everyone."

"I said 'yes' and 'no' only. No additions." Elena snapped, flicking her hair back and enjoying her reign of power. "Does your heart skip when he touches you?"

"…Yes."

"Do you like it when he smiles? Especially when it's for you? Does your breathing change when he's near? Do you think of him first thing in the morning and the last thing at night? Does he make you angry and happy at the same time? Do you want to feel his hands and his lips on you?"

Yuffie stopped answering and settled for a terrified nod of her head. Elena's voice rose as she continued to ramble on and on, getting more and more graphic before Yuffie yelled, "Stop!"

"Does that answer your question?" Elena was breathing heavily, but wore a self satisfied smirk.

"Yes." She swallowed and cowered away from the Turk. "Ah, there is another question."

"And what would that be?" Elena leaned toward Yuffie, continuing to smirk.

"Can this happen in a day?"

"It happens in a moment, sweetheart. Oh, it can grow slowly, that's for sure. Realizing it, however, can be instantaneous." She turned and drove into the city. Yuffie bit her lip and tried to organize her rampaging thoughts.

Before she knew it, she was in front of Rufus's office and Elena was knocking on it.

"Come in."

Yuffie's heart jumped and she threw an angry look at Elena's Cheshire grin.

"Do be careful, Elena. You wouldn't want Reno to overhear you." Yuffie whispered as took the parcels from the other woman's hands. "Back in the car, it sounded like you were thinking of Tseng's hands being somewhere."

"Why you!"

Yuffie closed the door in her face. Retribution would be dealt later and she would have to pay it, but for right now, Yuffie relished in her petty victory.

"You shouldn't tempt the beast. She's too trigger happy for her own good." Rufus was lying on his couch with a piles of reports surrounding him.

"It's just so easy." Yuffie laughed, trying to cover up her sudden wave of unease. "Here. Let's clean this up a bit so we can eat."

Yuffe set the bags down and started relocating the reports to a safe place so she could set out the food on the low table. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rufus do the same. The food was set out and Yuffie was reaching for the thermos of tea when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Worry filled eyes looked down at her.

"I'm fine." Yuffie smiled up at him. "I slept after all. Worry about yourself a little."

She poured the tea and handed it up to him. When he didn't take the cup, she put it onto the table and waited for him to say something.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" Rufus did not move his hand from its neutral position.

"It's nothing to worry about. I'm just thinking about something."

"Is it… because of what I did?" His fingers tightened briefly. "Forget it. If it upsets you, then forget it."

Never did Yuffie think he would care so much as to completely cut off his own emotions. An unpleasant thought passed through her mind. Perhaps he never had emotions other than primal urges towards her. His company, his _power_, was more important. He wouldn't lose it over something petty like sleeping around. She shook the thought aside. It wasn't right.

"I'm not going to forget." Yuffie told him, reaching a hand up to his on her shoulder, but was surprised when he removed it quickly.

They ate in silence. Rufus sitting on the couch, Yuffie not moving from where she sat on the floor. The food tasted like sawdust in Yuffie's mouth as she nibbled on her food.

"Rufus." They had packed up the leftover food for him to eat throughout the day and Yuffie was shifting uneasily on her feet.

"Yes, Yuffie?" He turned to look at her, his eyes were tired and his hair was disheveled again.

"I never said thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking care of me. Understanding my needs. Making me feel better."

"I don't know about that last one. You look more upset today than three days ago." Rufus told her honestly. He was too tired to be anything else.

"That is because I'm confused." Yuffie took slow steps towards him, staring at his chest, unable to meet his gaze for any length of time. She noticed that he took a hesitant step back, running into his desk and gripping the edge. Only when her toes touched his, did she stop. "May I have a hug?"

It was a sudden and unexpected question. Slowly, as if he wasn't sure he heard right, Rufus removed his grasp on the lip of the desk to put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up, finally, into his face, as if searching for something there. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he wasn't sure how good it was.

Lightly, he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his hands across the back of her shoulders and holding her in a soft embrace. A sad frown crossed his face as he tilted his head down, not quite brushing the side of Yuffie's hair. This embrace was dead in comparison to the fire they had shared the day before. And it pained him to think that it was a fluke, that Yuffie was only concerned because of his collapse, that Yuffie did not see his true feelings. But, still, there was hope. She asked for a hug. She never asked for one before.

"Rufus?" Her voice was soft as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "It might take a few days for me to understand. But will you be patient and wait for me?"

"Yes." He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her hair and soap. "Yes, Yuffie. I will wait as long as you want."

She pulled away, her hands leaving his waist.

He was about to open his eyes, when she said, "Keep them closed."

Soft, hesitant lips met his. They lingered, as if torn between wanting to deepen the kiss and wanting to pull away before he responded. Reigning in his own instincts to devour her mouth, Rufus stayed still until, reluctantly, Yuffie pulled back. When he opened his eyes, she was looking away and gnawing on her bottom lip. He pulled his arms away and let them hang dejectedly at his sides.

"Perhaps you should ask Reeve for another day off." Rufus offered.

"No. It'll be fine. Work will be good. I'll try to see if the WRO can take some of the workload off you." Yuffie stepped towards the door. "I have to stop by the bar to get the cats, will you be home tonight?"

"I'll pick you up from the bar. Give me a call when you're ready?"

"Okay." Yuffie opened the door. The last thing she said before leaving was, "Try to get some rest."

0000000000

Yuffie slogged through a day and a half's worth of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk before she finally saw that she could leave the office. Reeve had peered into her office throughout the day, but she put a stop to it when she tasered Cait, forcing his systems to shut down, tossing him out of her office and locking her doors. Later, she unplugged her phone and put her mobile on silent.

Using every ounce of her ninja skills, she managed to sneak out without any harassment from her boss, asking if she needed any more time off.

The bar was just starting to fill when Yuffie opened the door. Most of the crowd was the usual tired workers, wanting a relaxing drink with their buddies before heading home to their families. Taking her usual seat at the bar, Yuffie threw a grin and a wave at the twins that were stealing a look from the kitchen.

"You two." Tifa had her back to her children, but she still caught them. "Back into the kitchen with Dad like we promised."

"But Auntie Yuffie's here." The little girl and boy whined in unison.

"Go back into the kitchen for now." Tifa told them sternly, but not unkindly, before turning to her long time friend. "What'll it be today, Yuffs?"

"Just mineral water, please." Yuffie tossed her coin over as the bartender popped a bottle open.

"You've got problems on your mind and it's got nothing to do with what happened at work." Tifa leaned forward, gazing hard with her burgundy eyes. "I wish I could help and talk Yuffie, but you hit me at a bad time."

"I know, I just wanted to come take the cats off your hands. If they haven't already escaped for home." Yuffie took a swig of her water.

"They're upstairs. Go on back and say hi to the kids. It'll give Cloud a break." Tifa smiled and moved to make someone else's order.

"Hey, Tifa?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you happy?"

"Yes." The older girl sighed, a blissful smile on her face. "But, remember, Yuffie. Happiness does not come in the same form for everyone. And it does not always come easily."

"I know. You're right."

"I'm always right. It's a mother's prerogative." Tifa turned away to serve her thirsty customers.

After calming the twins down, Yuffie let them help her load up the cats as they rambled about their day. They were adorable and fairly well behaved children, and they always managed to make Yuffie feel a little bit happier. To children, the world was a wonderful place to be, full of things to discover.

Rosa, blonde like her father, had started out being afraid of the aloof and haughty cats. But after two days, she suddenly made a realization that, without shame, she exclaimed for the world, "I love them!"

Her brother, Wolfe, dark like their mother as Rosa was fair, scoffed at her openly. "Two days ago you could not be in the same room. There's no _way_ you can say that you love them. It doesn't make sense!"

"Wolfe, that's not true. Love does not always make any sense. Sometimes, it's shy and doesn't know how to express itself." The little boy looked at Yuffie as she spoke to him. Rosa also stared. "Love is sudden and often cannot be explained. It's confusing and yet so clear. And sometimes it's always been there, but you never knew it before. You just need the right moment to realize that…it's love."

"Auntie Yuffie?" The twins asked, "Why are you crying?"


	7. Chapter 7

Negotiations

Author's Notes: Love to my reviews. Reviews are Shiny and I'm a magpie.

Chapter 7

After Yuffie left his office, Rufus slammed a fist against his desk, making the papers on the surface jump. The picture frames he had there rattled and one tipped over.

He was frustrated. And tired. He thought he had built up his tolerance so he was unbreakable, but the one thing he was guarding against was a much more formidable opponent than he thought.

Moving to pick up the fallen picture, he hesitated. Perhaps he shouldn't put it back. It would distract him. But his mind was already thinking about it, so it was a lost cause to avoid it. The picture frame was a simple one, to deter people from noticing it on the President's desk.

It was a picture Rufus had taken, many years ago. He had snuck the camera out against his father's will. But it was the last time Rufus was going to Wutai and the country really was beautiful and he wanted to remember it.

Turning the picture over, Yuffie's smiling face beamed up at him. She was young, not even a teenager, but it was the only picture he had of her smiling. It was summer, not that it meant much, she was always wearing shorts and sleeveless tops at that age. She was standing in the river playing with her friends. Rufus had refused to join them, choosing instead to walk around the town taking pictures. He was wondering what to do with his final picture when he saw her and the shining happiness she exuded. He took the picture before he knew what he was doing.

It was a decision he never regretted.

Rufus carefully set the picture frame down and looked at the other picture; his mother holding a bouquet of flowers he picked for her as a young boy during their retreat one year. There were things he wished he could talk to her about; like how to treat someone right. He had too much negative influence, too much precedence of what not to do, from his father. What he wanted was to know how to do it right.

For years, Rufus had wanted to reach out, find Yuffie, tell her how he felt. But he was always talking himself out of it. His self control was his best and worst feature. He could put up with not knowing, not having; he did it for years. First it was because she was too young. Then it was Sephiroth and Meteorfall. Then two years of captivity. Deepground. Then she vanished from his sight and he thought it was the end.

Thoughts of moving on always weighed on his mind, but Rufus busied himself with work instead. Years passed before Rufus realized it and, though his attention was directed elsewhere, he still loved the small Wutaian princess.

Hate for himself, his selfishness, encroached on his mind. He wanted to let it consume him, but, yet again, his self control hijacked his mind. There were people's lives and livelihoods at stake. He needed to do his job.

He didn't deserve to be happy with Yuffie. Liar. That was what he was. And he used his power and own selfish reasons to force his will upon Yuffie. He would have to confess everything. In two weeks they would be making their five month re-negotiation day. They had decided upon the day during their first week of marriage. It would provide the best opportunity to give her the real freedom she wanted.

Having decided that, Rufus turned to his work. There was much to do and not much time to do it. Like all the other times where his thoughts wandered, Rufus focused on work.

00000000

When the sun was low, he got a phone call on his mobile. He was just handing over the last of the files to his attendants.

"Hello?"

"It's Yuffie. Are you still working?" Her voice sounded weird.

"I'm just about done. Are you done catching cats?" Rufus looked around his office at the mess he had made throughout the day. He collected pens from every flat surface and put them back into his drawers before giving up and packing his bags for home.

"Yes. Can you come pick us up when you're done at the office?"

"I'm leaving now. I'll be there soon." He hung up. The rest of the day was going to be hard. Without work to occupy his mind, it would take a lot more concentration to keep his thoughts under control.

He pulled up to the Seventh Heaven and helped Yuffie and the twins carry the cats to the car. The twins, both only reaching his knees in height, gave him tight hugs around his legs before running back into the bar through the back.

"What was that about?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Yuffie climbed into the car and closed the door before he could reply.

She was hiding something, that much was obvious from that morning. Rufus was having a hard time deciding which was more tiring; not having any sleep, or having one's emotions jerked around like a kite in a tornado.

They rode in silence, Rufus trying to stay awake and Yuffie seemingly content at letting him concentrate. When they got home, Rufus followed Yuffie's instructions to go ahead of her and clean up for dinner. She released the cats and put their cases away before following him inside.

She waited for him in the dining room, not wanting to run into him in their bedroom. When he came down, he hadn't even dried his hair and it was dripping onto his shoulders. He held a towel in his hands like he forgot he had it.

"At least attempt to dry your hair." Yuffie plucked the towel from his fingers as he sat, standing to give his head a quick but thorough tousle.

Marcus entered to serve their dinner and gave Yuffie a disapproving look, possibly because she was throwing blonde hairs all over their dining table. With Rufus's head covered, he couldn't see Yuffie stick her tongue out childishly before pulling back the fabric to run her fingers through his locks. He tried not to purr like the cats, but her fingers felt so good as they ran across his scalp, lightly catching on tangles as she swept his hair out of his face.

"Ma'am." Marcus pulled Yuffie's chair straight, indicating that she should sit down and stop playing with her husband's hair.

"Fine, fine." Yuffie gave Rufus a parting pat before sitting and pulling her plate towards her. "How was work?"

Thank goodness. Work. A topic that was least likely to bring up any awkward, tangent conversations.

"Successful. We have a good supply for repairs. Nothing at the generators is broken, so it is mostly replacing and reinforcing lines in the city." Rufus ate slowly. He hadn't eaten much during the day, and with their adventure the day before, his stomach had gotten smaller. He was happy to see Yuffie eating more normally than during breakfast. "How was your work day?"

Most of the work Yuffie did was a blur in her mind. Work was not the forerunning thought during her hours at the office. But she wasn't going to tell _him_ that.

"Full of reports. Lots coming in over the city due to flooding and property damage. Mostly, I had reports from before, about the dive teams in Midgar." Her eyelashes lowered as she remembered. The father they had arrested said that he was going to bury his children in the rubble of the fallen city, rather than pay the fee to bury them properly at the new cemeteries.

"Have you finished clearing out the Shin-Ra building?" Rufus had personally gone back to his home and sorted through the debris. He had been lucky that his safe really was fire proof. Stashed inside were his two precious pictures.

"Not yet. We've managed to sort through the junk on top, but the basements are tricky. You wouldn't happen to have schematics for it, would you?"

"Reeve is infinitely more likely to have those than me." Rufus explained. The old director of city planning would know more about it than the man who took over for a few measly months before things, literally, blew up.

"I guess we'll continue doing it the old fashioned way. By looking." Yuffie grinned and took a drink, watching as Rufus tiredly put down his fork. "Not hungry?"

"Not really, no."

"Drink some more, at least." Yuffie put his glass closer for him to reach. "Marcus?"

The cook came out from where he was dining in the kitchen.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Thank you for dinner." It was their silently agreed upon phrase to indicate that they were through for the evening and that he was free to go home after cleaning up.

"Mr. Shinra, did you get enough to eat?" Marcus noted the leftovers on the plates as he took them away.

"I did. Thank you, Marcus, it was delicious as always." Rufus stood slowly and walked for the stairs, fully intent on falling into bed. Seven o'clock be damned.

Yuffie followed him. She perched on the bed and watched as Rufus frowned into his closet.

"Looking for something specific?"

"A shirt is missing." His brain clicked as he noticed. He hadn't noticed it before because he hadn't wanted to wear it then. Now that he did, it's absence was obvious.

"You mean this one?" Yuffie pulled his shirt from under her pillow, her normal spot for pajamas.

"Yes." Rufus was confused and his sleep deprived mind was having a hard time coping. "Why do you have it?"

"I kinda wore it last night." She confessed and held it out, unsure if he wanted it back even if it was worn. He took it and swapped it with the one he was already wearing. Yuffie took the warm shirt and played with the buttons as Rufus stepped out of his slacks to pull on sweats over his boxers.

"Are you really going to bed now? It's only seven." Yuffie asked as Rufus collapsed face down across the bed.

"I'm tired. I don't think I can do anything else today." His voice was muffled as he spoke into the blankets.

It wasn't like Yuffie particularly wanted to have a heart to heart conversation with him, but with her emotions all haywire, her hormones were also getting antsy. Maybe she didn't have to talk. Maybe she could release some of her pressure by doing something nice for Rufus. His reaction would also give her something to analyze later, to gauge his feelings for her or just to file away.

Setting aside the buttoned shirt she was playing with, Yuffie crawled onto the bed and sat beside Rufus's back. From his breathing, she knew he wasn't asleep yet. Slowly, she pressed a hand on his back. Under the shirt, she felt his muscles twitch at the initial contact, but then slowly relax as she rubbed in soothing circles. His head turned and a single blue eye looked up at her.

"What are you doing?" Mumbling tiredly, Rufus had to fight to keep his eye from dropping closed.

"Relax, it's just a back rub. A full massage would be better, but that would be painful." Yuffie leaned up and briefly ran her fingers through his hair, trying to get it so the strands wouldn't poke at his face. A deep sigh rumbled as he lost control over his reactions. When she pulled her hand away, his head lifted, as if following her pleasurable digits. She laughed softly and obliged him, diving her fingers back into his hair and pulling groans of pleasure from deep within his throat.

"You really shouldn't sleep this early. It'll throw off your internal clock." Yuffie paused her ministrations, forcing him to hear her words.

"Well, I'm not going to do anything, so it'll be up to you to make sure I don't fall asleep." Rufus yawned, as if making a declaration of war. "I hope you have a plan, because I am about to—"

He barely felt it, but suddenly, Yuffie had him on his back and she was kissing him. Her lips were hot, but her kisses soft; her hands needy, but not intrusive.

She had thrown reason out the window and with it, her dignity. Thinking was overrated. Explaining herself would make her stop; and she didn't want to stop. As tired as she knew he was, Yuffie wanted to be selfish.

Warm fingers reached up and lazily trailed along her cheek, making her pull back slightly.

"I will not be ashamed." Yuffie told herself stubbornly. Her dark hair formed a curtain around their faces as she pulled up to look at him. Dark circles were under his eyes; something she didn't notice before. "Do you want me to stop?"

He shook his head, fingers not moving from her soft skin. There wasn't much emotion that was visible over his mask of exhaustion.

"Just understand what you're getting yourself into, Yuffie." He pushed his fingers back, gripping the spot where her head and neck met, tangling with her hair so she couldn't move. "Technically, I've been awake long enough to be considered drunk. I might not be able to stop anything this time."

His ability for self control was at a minimum. The only thing holding him back was his pure lack of energy.

Yuffie nodded and leaned in anyway, tasting his mouth again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if she was any good at what she was doing. From their actions the day before, Yuffie knew exactly what Rufus could do to her. She let her instincts drive her actions.

She shifted from his mouth to his neck as he pulled her head down with the hand still trapped in her hair. Soft breathing accompanied the deep massaging fingers he started as Yuffie sucked on his exposed skin. The thought that her mouth was where his phantom pain sprang up flickered through her mind and she chose not to brand him on his neck. Just in case it would set him off. Instead, she trailed warm, open mouth kisses along his neck until she could lick the pulse at the base of his throat. Feeling, rather than hearing, the moan as it escaped, Yuffie finally let out a sigh of relief.

Rufus shifted when her breath washed over his now damp skin. His hands went to her waist and pulled her onto him. If he moved, he wanted her to feel it too. She obliged him and moved easily, sliding her legs on either side of his hips and gliding so their torsos met. Their heartbeats matched and Rufus lazily glided his hands all over her body.

She giggled and bit her lip as his fingers tickled her waist.

"Ticklish? The great ninja has a weakness?" Rufus smiled evilly as his strong fingers gripped her as she struggled.

"I thought you were tired!" Yuffie gasped as she squirmed into him.

"I am. But I'm only moving my fingers." Rufus smiled up at her as he finally relented and moved his hands down. "I'm getting sleepy again. What other plans do you have on keeping drunk me awake?"

"Well, I was just going to use your body as my playground." Yuffie dragged her nails over the shirt at his sides, making him arch up enough for her to slip her arms under him and press her breasts into his chest. "But I could do something else, if you prefer."

"You are always welcome to do whatever you like." Rufus was slurring his words. Sleep was grasping at his consciousness.

"I'll keep you to your words." Yuffie pushed herself up, freeing her arms from his weight and rocked back with her pelvis, grinding into his hips. Languidly, she pulled her shirt off, exposing her, now only lightly, tanned skin. Yuffie watched as Rufus's eyes trailed up to her body, lingering on her lace covered breasts.

"You wear _that_ to the office?" Rufus's fingers trailed up, making her wiggle her hips as he passed over her ticklish middle before resting beneath her soft curves.

"Sometimes a girl has to make herself feel sexy."

"Do you want to feel sexy?" Rufus asked.

"Every girl does." Yuffie rocked back, reaching for his shirt she was playing with before. Just as she snagged the material, Rufus ruthlessly bucked his hips, rolling himself against Yuffie, making her yelp and flail to get her bearings again.

"If you're going to play, then be ready to play." Rufus tugged the shirt from her hands and threw it off the bed. He sat up, finding some hidden pool of adrenaline, holding Yuffie so she wouldn't run away like her expression said she wanted to. "You feel that? It's the testimony saying that you're sexy. Regardless to what you wear."

He kissed her lips, then kissed down to the tops of her breasts. Her legs gripped his hips tighter as he moved his lips around her body, her hands clawed into his shoulders as he bucked again.

"What shall I do with you? I feel that in order to stay awake like my wife says, I need to do something. And I do love being on the giving side." Lying her on her back, Rufus pulled his hips free from her knees to look down at her. Some of the exhaustion was dissipating, but he wasn't sure how far he could get before passing out like an alcoholic drunk.

Their foreplay was already lacking in romance, but falling asleep would just be abysmal.

Suddenly, she was laughing.

"You just love being in control, don't you?" Jabbing a finger between his eyes, she pushed his head back.

"What was that for?" He shook it off and glared down at her, his irritation driving away more of his fatigue.

"You look like you're about to fall asleep on me. I'm a virgin, you know. Just think of the mental scarring you'll leave if you fall asleep the first time we have sex. I'll be worried I'll put you to sleep each time we do it!" Yuffie shoved at him, but he didn't move. A glimmer in his eye made her swallow. It was a dangerous look. She saw it often before. Starving children in front of a free meal, predators in front of prey, men looking at a woman.

It was a look she never had trained on her before.

"You know? I think you're going to get your wish. I'm not sleepy at all anymore." Grinning devilishly, he started tickling her, making her squeak and thrash, trying to break free.

She managed to escape, and fled off the bed, taking up a defensive crouch at the edge, allowing only her eyes to peek out. Crawling to lie on his stomach, he placed a kiss on her forehead. Lulled into a false sense of security, she was caught off guard as he tried to grab her back. Instincts kicking in, Yuffie jumped up and danced out of range, forcing Rufus to stand.

Her downfall was decided when she looked down and saw how the usually loose sweatpants were pulled tight in a certain area, making her stomach, and a certain other place, tighten. Catching her, Rufus wrapped his arms around her, laughing as she tried to struggle against his frame. They fought for dominance, but neither side really wanted to win. The fight was more fun than the winning. No words on how they felt were uttered. They were just a man and woman that night. There were no thoughts of duty, comfort, or consequences. Neither thought about the next day or how things would change.

Both would probably accuse hormones in the morning, they would accept the lies, and they would continue as they always did.

Or so they thought.

As Rufus swallowed Yuffie's cries of pain and ecstasy that night, neither one though that their world would be any different in the morning.

That night, they slept in the hot, sticky, sweaty embrace of each other and didn't have any other care in the world but for the person in their arms.


	8. Chapter 8

Negotiations

Author's Notes: Be forewarned. Unhappiness will ensue from here on out. Can't always be happy-happy. Don't hate too much, I promise to make it all better. Review, it'll make you feel better. Promise.

Chapter 8

The next morning, Wake up Cat yowled loudly on the other side of their locked door. Rufus woke and was confused. The night before was a blur of passion Rufus had been holding back for more than enough years. Maybe he could hide behind his drunkenness from lack of sleep if Yuffie tried to accuse him. Turning his face, he looked down at the woman snuggled in his arms. Like before, Yuffie pulled herself out of sleep.

"It's morning already?" Yuffie stretched, unknowingly pressing her naked body against Rufus's. Going through each of her steps for stretching, she forgot that she wasn't wearing a stitch and gave Rufus a complete view of her body. He appreciated it much better in the morning light than in the darkness. "Sore…"

"You did use your body in a new way last night. A little soreness is expected." Rufus passed his fingers along her back, over her raised rear and down her leg to grab her knee. "Yuffie."

"What?" Then she looked down and panicked, finally waking up. "Ah! Don't look!"

She grabbed the blanket that had been kicked away. Even though she pulled the blanket over her head, she could hear his chuckling.

"I was right last night." He hugged the mass of blankets before walking off to the bathroom. "You don't need anything to be sexy."

"You're a fiend!" Yuffie threw a pillow at him as he ducked into the bathroom.

That was the only conversation they had about their night of unprecedented sex.

Yuffie acted like nothing happened. Going to work and helping others helped her ignore whatever thoughts bombarded her mind. She wasn't sure why she was ignoring what they did. It wasn't like it was a bad thing. Since Rufus never said anything either, she hid from the topic.

Where Yuffie was surviving just fine, Rufus was near about having a crisis of character. The Turks all avoided him, the secretaries scurried away. He was a hypocrite and a monster and Yuffie didn't even realize that he took complete advantage of her situation to take whatever he wanted. He hid behind reasons and excuses in his mind, which only made it worse. Later, when he was thinking about how he handled the morning after, he mentally beat himself for his selfish behavior and inability to be honest with her.

With work easing off, he took full control over starting projects he had lined up. He took more work home than ever before and made the library into his cage of solitude. Talking with Yuffie dropped below their premarital status, which barely existed to begin with.

Though Yuffie saw his increased workload, she treated it the same as when they first got married, since she could not get an answer from him as to why. Whenever she went to him to fulfill her obligatory Condition Two, Rufus would turn away quickly, breaking off their contact.

"I don't get it!" Yuffie yelled at Tifa. The bar was closed in the middle of the afternoon. Yuffie left her office early to talk to her friend. "We did it and he ignores me!"

"Maybe he's shy. You told me he hasn't been with anyone in a while." Tifa was taking a rare break and was sitting with Yuffie at a table. "Besides, more importantly, you haven't told me how it was. Details! Dish!"

Yuffie scrambled away as the fighter lunged for her.

"That's private! I'm not telling you." Yuffie was cornered and had nowhere to run.

"Oh? You aren't going to share? Fine. I'll just tell you about me and Cloud. We didn't get twins in one try you know. We had to try many, many times. Different positions, too. Though we tried some just for fun." Tifa leaned close. "Shall I teach you? There's this one that feels really—"

"Tifa!" Yuffie slapped her hands over the older woman's mouth, successfully muffling, but not stopping her completely. "I told you he was ignoring me! I can't just have sex with him when he's _ignoring _me!"

"Why not? You sleep in the same bed."

Yuffie shook her head. "He stopped sleeping there."

"What? That's absurd." Tifa pushed back and planted her fists on her hips. The look that burned in her eyes were dangerous.

"No, you can't talk to him, Tifa!" Yuffie grabbed the clenched fists at the bartender's sides. The Seventh Heaven was famous for not needing a bouncer because Tifa handled it all on her own. "This is something I have to handle with him."

"Will you be able to talk to him? It's not just one problem between you two." Tifa sat back down and rested her elbows on the table. "Have you told him how you feel?"

"What? I don't—"

"Yes, you do." Tifa gave the younger girl a kind smile. "If you didn't, then him not talking to you wouldn't bother you."

"But, Tifa." Yuffie slumped over the table, resting her head on the surface. "He probably thinks I'm just using him to get to the company to rebuild Wutai. Then I used him for sex because…"

"Because what?"

"Because just thinking that I'm married to him… makes me smile."

"And it also makes your breathing change, your heart beat faster." Tifa started listing and Yuffie nodded. "Your stomach tightens and suddenly you're wet and you want him in you doing something that will make you pant and—"

"Stop verbally masturbating, Tifa!" Yuffie snapped out, blushing furiously at the words. There was a triumphant look on Tifa's face as well as a hungry one. "Bad choice of words. I gotta go, Teefs. We're scheduled to talk about something tonight."

"Is that why you're talking to me? You need to figure it all out tonight?" Tifa stood as Yuffie did. "What's your goal for tonight? Confess? Sex?"

"Understanding." Yuffie paused, a hand on the door. "I just want to understand. If that means that I tell him everything, then that is what will happen."

Resolve in place, Yuffie waved to Tifa before stepping out. It was already five months into their marriage and they were going to renegotiate their contract. Rushing home, Yuffie cleaned herself up. The day had been spent out in the Midgar slums, trying to scavenge and clean up the area of dangerous things. She had gotten dirty during the day, even though she was supposed to be a supervisor, she dove right in with the others.

When she stepped out of the shower, she saw that all the stings she felt were cuts she had accumulated over the day. She slapped a little salve on the worse ones and ignored the smaller ones. She dressed comfortably, since it was getting further into the fall season and she demanded to keep the temperature low to save electricity. She still wore shorts, but pulled on a large sweater and socks.

It was still early, so Yuffie tidied up their room. She had gotten messy over the days of isolation. Even though Rufus did go up, it was to grab clean clothes and shower. He had moved his toothbrush to the downstairs bathroom in the previous weeks.

When the sun set, Yuffie went downstairs, confused. It was time for dinner, but she hadn't heard Rufus come home.

"Ma'am." Marcus had the table set for one.

"What's this, Marcus?"

"Mr. Shinra said he would not make it home for dinner and instructed me to make sure you ate."

"Oh. Did he say when he would be home?" Yuffie looked up at the cook.

"No, Ma'am." As much as Marcus disliked the overly cheerful mistress of the house, he felt a little bad at the tension of the past few weeks.

"Would you eat with me? I promise I won't talk." Yuffie gave him puppy eyes.

"Very well."

True to her words, they ate without talking. Then he cleaned up and went home, leaving Yuffie in the silence. Alone.

She hated it when people left her alone. Waiting for Rufus, Yuffie wandered through the rooms: living room, library, bedroom. She even opened all the closets and looked at what was hidden inside. The only thing inside that belonged to both of them were pictures of their wedding day.

Pulling it out, she realized she never saw any of them. When the box of photos arrived, they shoved them into the closet and never opened the door.

None of the pictures had a smile. Yuffie dropped the final photo into the box as cats crawled around the room. She was in the bedroom and it was the only place with a light on, so the cats all gathered to nap on top of each other. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 11:30.

"Rufus? The day's almost over. I thought we were going over the contract today." Yuffie spoke into the phone, even though he didn't say anything when he picked up, she knew he was listening. "Are you coming home?"

"No. We will renegotiate now." Rufus's voice was scratchy. "Contract terminated. Do whatever you want, wear whatever you want."

"I don't like these new terms." Yuffie didn't know why her throat was tightening or why her sight was blurring.

"You don't have to go to any more parties or functions as my wife. You can go by Kisaragi again. I don't care."

"But I do!" Yuffie scared the cats. "Why can't we keep the contract? Why won't you come home and tell me yourself?"

"Because I don't want to see you." Rufus hung up the phone.

The connection flat lined.

Rufus slumped to the ground. His phone fell somewhere, but he didn't care. He could have told her the truth. Could have gotten his heart broken.

No, he would rather live with not knowing. Fear was something his father never showed anyone. He taught Rufus that fear was a tool to rule over others. To feel it for one's self was to be a slave to something else. It was weakness. Fear and love were weaknesses.

The bottle was nearly empty. Rufus had to turn it almost completely upside down for the burning amber liquid to slide down his throat. He wished he could erase everything. If he was born in another life, he might have been happy. Happy with a wife, to love her, cherish her. Instead, he lived a mockery. Loving the one he married. But married not for love.

He slept there that night, slumped in his office floor. Alcohol burned his lips, mocking him because he yearned for the burning left by soft lips, not the coldness of glass. Nightmares haunted him. Like they had for the past two weeks. He was in the cave. Alone.

She left him.

Even after she promised him. After she held him and soothed his pain. After she ignited something in him, she left so he would be consumed by his own internal inferno.

"Yuffie!" He sat up, groping to his side, hoping to be in bed with her sleeping beside him, snuggled around her pillow.

"President." Rude was kneeling by Rufus, dark shades obscuring his emotions. Behind the stoic Turk, Reno was busy cleaning up the mess the President left the night before.

"Boss, you shouldn't drink this stuff. It's worse than paint stripper." Reno capped the bottle and tossed it to Elena to remove from the room.

"Mr. President, are you alright?" Tseng knelt on Rufus's other side, glancing to Rude for back up if necessary.

"Yuffie." Rufus ground the heel of his palm into his forehead. "Where's Yuffie?"

"Isn't she at home?" Reno asked and flipped open his phone, thumb pressing the keypad to call her.

"No!" Rufus lunged and knocked the mobile from the red haired man's grasp. "You can't. You can't call her. Don't call her."

"Mr. President. You're not feeling well. Perhaps you should get some more rest." Tseng stood slowly and calmly approached their leader.

"No. No more rest. Work." Rufus went to his desk and started picking up random pieces of paper.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see that you're a mess, Rufus Shinra." Tifa stood in the doorway. Elena, clutching her stomach and cheek, leaned heavily in the doorway.

"Sorry, Boss. I tried to stop her." Elena managed to force out of her gasping lungs. Tseng went to her and led her to the couch so she could regain her breath.

"Rufus, I hated your family for years. Tried to kill you in particular a few times myself. But then things happened. Meteorfall, Geostigma, Kadaj, Deepground. And I thought you changed." Tifa sauntered in, her movements graceful for a woman with twins that ran her ragged. "You were even good to Yuffie. Let her work, brought her to her friends, even took a vacation. And then what happened?"

"This is not your concern, Lockheart." Rufus growled.

"It's Strife, now. I guess you don't understand how a woman would want her husband's name. I married because I love Cloud. Why did you marry, Rufus?" Tifa was angry. Though she used to be quiet about things, Tifa grew into her mother bear complex where she didn't worry about appearances. If she wanted to dish it out, she would, and she wouldn't hold back.

"To give her what she wanted." Rufus spat. He was tired of hiding. If Tifa was going to yell at him, he would yell right back.

"A marriage without love? Without choice?" Tifa took a menacing step forward and Rude stepped in front of Rufus to protect him. "Back off, Rude. I won't touch him."

"Stand down, Rude." Rufus ordered. To Tifa, he said, "Wutai. I was giving her back her country in the only way I could. Godo used her as a bartering chip. I tried to offer the help without the marriage. He wouldn't take it. He said marry Yuffie or he wouldn't agree to our help."

"That can't be true." Tifa seethed. "Lord Godo wouldn't force his own daughter onto you if you were going to give him the help anyway."

"This is why you are not in politics, _Strife_." Rufus mocked her, pushing his hair back with his signature move. "Let's play a 'what if' game."

Rufus took a seat at the chair in front of his desk, offering the other to Tifa. She stayed standing.

"Let's have it, then."

"What if I offered my services without a marriage contract and Godo accepted?" Rufus steepled his fingers together.

"Wutai gets help, Yuffie is free to do whatever she wants." Tifa stated.

"Wrong. She's not free. Wutai becomes a strong, self-sufficient country in a few years. Yuffie is only getting older, such is the flow of time, but let us remember: _what_ is Yuffie?" Rufus posed the next question. Tifa sat.

"She's a ninja, treasure hunter…"

"And?"

"And Princess of Wutai."

"Which means?" Rufus waved for Tifa to continue. The Turks stayed silent as they watched.

"She will always end up as a bartering chip. Godo would marry her off to a family to create a successor to the throne." Tifa slumped back.

"Wutai is very much a traditional nation. That much is obvious." Rufus tapped his forefingers together. "Now here's the tricky part. Why force Yuffie to marry _me_?"

"Because you have power?" Tifa asked.

"Not quite. Try again." Rufus laced his fingers and placed them in his lap.

"You're far away from Wutai? It would stop Yuffie from succeeding the throne." Tifa mumbled as she thought.

"No. Shall I tell you why?" Rufus waited for the reluctant nod. "I am the only one who can break the chain."

"Chain?"

"The tradition of Lord of Wutai. Royal blood. It ends with Yuffie's marriage to me. Any child of ours is the successor to my firm. Wutai has no heir. Not even our second child could take over Wutai." Rufus explained.

"And Lord Godo just told you all of this?" Skepticism laced Tifa's words.

"Oh, not so clearly. But he mentioned some things. Ancient texts they discovered after an earthquake detailing older systems of leadership." He shrugged. "I suppose we were both selfish."

Tifa stood, angrier than before.

"I suppose so. And you caught Yuffie in the middle and didn't tell her anything. She's not a child. If she's part of it, then she should have been included in the discussions!" Tifa hissed. Her phone rang. Before picking it up, she told Rufus, "You disgust me."

Flipping the mobile open, she spoke into it. "Denzel? What do you mean your bike is missing? What? No, I'm coming home. Don't go anywhere."

Throwing one final disapproving look over her shoulder at Rufus, she ran out.

Yuffie had stolen Denzel's motorcycle.

00000000

The chocobo warked pitifully. It didn't want to leave Yuffie at the caves. But Yuffie shooed it off and it ran home. By the time it got there, it would have forgotten that it left Yuffie in the northern mountains.

Yuffie was upset.

No, furious.

But most of all, she was confused. She accepted the thought that Rufus was disgusted at their intimate night, not matter what he had said during it. After all, he had said he was technically drunk. He might have been imagining someone else and was horrified when his mind finally caught up.

Throwing down her packs, Yuffie grabbed up her four pointed shuriken and explored the caves. It was a different one than the one they hid in during the storm and had more than just a few tunnels burrowing into the mountain. Storming in, Yuffie eradicated all the pests and memorized the paths.

She settled down, prepared for some solitude. As much as she loved being with people to talk to, she was perfectly acclimated to life alone. If she chose it. Leaving Wutai when she was a young teen had taught her a lot about being alone.

Sometimes it was better that way.

00000000

"Denzel!" Tifa ran into the bar and called for the teen. Both Denzel and Marlene came out from the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Yuffie came. Tifa, she was really angry." Denzel explained. "I came home just as she came in. I put my keys down to get her something to drink and she took off. At first, I thought she just went upstairs."

"But I saw," Marlene piped up. "I was upstairs. Yuffie packed her bags and took off on Denzel's bike."

"Where did she go?" Tifa asked and the teens shrugged. Yuffie could have gone anywhere. "How big was her bag?"

"Big. She had her large shurikens too." Marlene counted on her fingers as she pulled up the mental image.

"Oh, no." Tifa slumped into her chair and pulled out her phone. "Yuf-"

"This number cannot be connected. The person you are trying to reach is either out of range or has turned off their phone. To leave a message, press one. If not, please hang up and try again later."

Tifa stared at the mobile. Since they got the new models, Yuffie never turned it off. Shaking her head, Tifa dialed Reeve's number.

"Reeve? Is Yuffie there?"

"Tifa? No, she's not in yet. It's a little early for her. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Reeve, Yuffie is missing. She took off on Denzel's bike without telling anyone anything. I didn't even know she could drive. Look for her?" Tifa pleaded.

"I'll send out a message. We'll find her." Reeve consoled her. After a pause, he asked, "Does Rufus know?"

"Who cares about him!" Tifa yelled. "And don't you dare tell him!"


	9. Chapter 9

Negotiations

Chapter 9

With much reluctance, Rufus went home that night. Reno and Rude drove him home and made sure that he went inside. They had contacted the house and told Marcus to hide all the alcohol, just in case, even though their boss was not usually one to go to the bottle continuously.

The house was quiet. Rufus could hear Marcus cooking in the kitchen as he walked to the library to drop off his bag and jacket. Most of his clothes were now relocated downstairs, but he still had to go up to the second floor to shower. He grabbed a clean set of clothes and walked silently, praying not to run into Yuffie. He had no idea how he would survive an attack.

Everything was quiet on the second story. Bedroom doors were open and Rufus peeked in.

Clothes fell to the floor when he saw the complete mess the room was in. The closet doors were open, empty hangers strewn over the floor. A vase that held white roses, Yuffie's favorite, was shattered, water dried on the carpet, flowers torn apart, petals everywhere. There were dots of blood scattered everywhere, like the sharp crystal had cut Yuffie's legs and feet as she threw the container to the floor. Bedding was strewn, blanket on one side, sheets on the other side of the bed. Pillows were hurtled across the room.

The mess continued into the bathroom where all Yuffie's bottles of scents and make-up were cracked as she had swept them from the counter. Towels were pulled from the cabinets, bottles in disarray.

Rufus went back into the bedroom and collapsed on her side of the bed. Something crinkled underneath him like paper. He reached down and pulled out the four by six inch photograph. She was in white, he in black, and neither was smiling.

The phone rang as he held it to his ear. Wishing, he wanted to hear her voice as she chirped her usual 'hello,' wanted to hear that she was okay. But all he got was the automated message telling him that he was denied his wish.

"Yuffie." Rufus dropped his phone a second time that day. "I'm sorry."

Fingers curled around the photo and he searched for more. They were hidden beneath the blanket. Hundreds of pictures littered the floor. Almost all of them had the bride and groom centered in the shot, but there were a few handfuls of Yuffie alone at the table, looking destitute as she stared at the stitching in the tablecloth before her.

Collecting them, Rufus could feel himself unraveling like a sweater with a loose strand getting pulled. He didn't know why he had become a heartless bastard, pushing Yuffie away when he could have pulled her in. Perhaps he was becoming more like his father. And that terrified him.

He never wanted to be anyone's knight in shining armor, but neither did he want to be the villain. As it turned out, when he tried to shy away from the first, he inevitably became the second. Rufus collapsed in a heap, pictures sliding from his fingers as pain shot up his right arm and up his neck.

His nightmare had come true. Yuffie left him. And he had no one to blame but himself.

No one had ever died from phantom pains before, but there is always a first for everything.

000000000000000

Yuffie had set up a quaint little shelter for herself in the cave. She had successfully stayed off the radar for a fortnight and she was rather enjoying her freedom. Fighting monsters every day, savaging for food, cooking and treasure hunting became her daily routine. Complete radio silence was the key to her success. If she turned it on, even for a moment, she knew Reeve and all of WRO would be on her.

She told herself that she didn't care about Rufus.

It became her mantra. Every time she started to think about it, she muttered, "I don't care."

Freedom was finally hers, yet she felt more caged than ever before. Her emotions were stronger than any steel bar, any shackle, and they kept her from feeling happy.

"This is what I've always wanted! I'm free of responsibility. No more worry over Wutai, no more contract. I can be me!"

Yet, she was unhappy. She couldn't talk with any of her friends. Definitely couldn't go home, to Wutai or Edge. Could barely even go into town to buy supplies. When she went to sleep each night, she snuggled into her pillow and cried. It was like when she was a teen all over again. Back then, it was because her father didn't want her. Now it was because Rufus didn't want her.

She could have gone back at any time. Rufus had to let her back. But she did not want to, refused to, face the fact that she had run away. She who always dove headfirst into trouble, had run away because a boy didn't like her and refused to talk to her. It was the most cowardly thing ever.

On more than one occasion, Yuffie pit herself against monsters with insufficient weaponry. She would choose to take only small weapons when mediums were necessary, mediums when large were. Or she would leave her armor, pulling bait out to lure more than one enemy at a time. Time and time again, she would stumble into her cave, bleeding from scratches or half delirious from Goblin punches.

She continued to the one month mark before he found her and took her home with him.

Vincent Valentine.

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He gave her a room with a view of the garden. Vincent did not say much the day he found her, lying in the cave mouth with a gash running down the length of her arm, unable to clean herself up from exhaustion. He had patched her up, dosed her with Tranquilizers, packed all her things and sailed back to Nibelheim.

The manor was all cleaned up. He bought and fixed it. Now it was all his. Not just the pathetic coffin in the cellar.

When Yuffie woke the first time in the bed, she scrambled for her weapons, but Vincent had relieved her of all her sharp objects.

"I barely recognized you." Yuffie commented when she finally saw Vincent in the doorway and realization dawned on her. In the comfort of his own home, Vincent shed his cloak, gauntlet and pointy shoes. She still hadn't gotten over his new haircut, even though that change had been in place for several months.

"Likewise." Vincent sat at the foot of her bed and looked at her. "I never thought the Yuffie I travelled with would be so stupid as to physically deprecate herself."

"I have no idea what you mean." Yuffie brushed her hair back, seeing the sterile white bandage tied around her arm.

"You have double the number of scars since I last saw you. That was only last month. Now tell me: why I shouldn't call Tifa and let her yell at you?" Vincent could still be very intimidating. Yuffie puffed out her cheeks and glared briefly until she saw him reach for his phone.

"Alright. I ran away because he was mean to me."

"Rufus hurt you?" Death filled red eyes stared into her.

"Not physically. He said something, so I left. It's his fault. If he didn't…" Yuffie trailed off and huffed. There was no reason to get so worked up about it. "Anyway, I'm still mad, so I'm not going back."

Vincent was silent, watching Yuffie as she stretched and winced as she pulled her injuries. Having travelled with Yuffie over the years, the stoic gunslinger knew all about her wake up habits and only watched with indifference as she moved her lithe body. He noticed something different about the way she moved. Age could have something to do with it, but it wasn't quite right.

"Did he know that he offended you?" Vincent was always the analytical type, he just surprised Yuffie that he was actually bothering to probe for an answer.

"He'd have to be dumber than a drunk rock to not know." Scathingly, Yuffie replied before reining herself in. There was no need to take it out on her friend. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize to me. I actually feel bad for Rufus." Vincent mused and swept out of the room. He never walked anywhere like a normal person. Which made sense; he was far from normal. "Interesting."

"What's interesting? What do you mean you feel bad for him?" Yuffie staggered after the tall man.

The dining room was set for a light meal. Vincent sat and motioned for Yuffie to join him.

"I have lived a long time, as you know." Vincent started as he poured tea for the both of them. "For the majority of the time, I have experienced the pain of not having a clear explanation."

Internally, Yuffie grimaced. When Vincent started talking about Lucrecia, things tended to get boring. But it seemed like he had a point, something that his gloomy past could illuminate for the princess.

"Lucrecia never wanted to talk to me. Always pushed me away. Emotions were running high, but I never knew which ones. Only, the entire situation would have been understood with a little conversation, a little honesty." Vincent chewed his food slowly and deliberately, forcing Yuffie to think.

"Why…_exactly_ do you feel bad for…him?" Yuffie couldn't say his name.

"I know my personality and Lucrecia's. And I know yours. I have never been open with my feelings."

"Shocking." Yuffie interceded. She received a glare and was forced to wait in silence while Vincent took another bite of food.

"It is not surprising that one of the times I did, things ended poorly, so I was more so unwilling to be free with such things."

"Calamity ensues. What's your point, Vinnie?" Yuffie threw herself back in her chair.

"The _point_, Yuffie, is that you are nothing like Lucrecia or me because you have always been truthful to yourself. And never have I known you to mince words or hide your thoughts." Vincent raised his cup, leveling his gaze over the rim at her. "Was I wrong?"

"And…?" Yuffie didn't answer, he already knew. And she didn't really think she could get more out of him, having already exceeded his word quota for the month. But honestly, she couldn't quite make out his point.

"Are you the same Yuffie I travelled with? Fought alongside with?" Vincent asked. They had spent time together five years previously, during the Deepground incident.

"Mostly." Yuffie said honestly. Other than her marital status change and her more adult like urges, Yuffie felt like she was still her old spunky self on the inside.

"Then why haven't you told him?"

"Told him what?" Yuffie scowled. She wished Vincent had gone back to his coffin.

"That you love him." Vincent heard whispers in the recess of his mind. With the absence of Chaos, the other monsters retracted into his mind, not really enjoying tormenting Vincent now that he came to terms with his angst. But now, whispers cropped up. Galian Beast seemed to sniff and smile wickedly as his thought transpired to Vincent.

"You okay? Vinnie, you look a little pale under your pale." Yuffie sat up and leaned forward.

"Fine. Why haven't you told him." He did not make it sound like a question.

"I'm afraid. So I don't want to. Is there something wrong with that?" Yuffie crossed her arms and pouted.

"Now why can't you be like that in front of Rufus?" Mentally, Vincent sternly told Galian Beast that he got the memo the first time and that he needed to focus.

Yuffie spluttered and stood to pace.

"Loving someone changes a person." Vincent barely flinched when Yuffie's fist connected with his shoulder.

"Shuddap. I don't wanna hear it." Yuffie headed for the door.

"I will call Tifa."

She stopped on her tracks. If she so much as touched the door, Tifa would be screaming on the other end of the phone. Putting her hands up in surrender, Yuffie backed away from the door.

"What do you want from me, Vincent?" Yuffie turned and stared at him.

"You need to talk to Rufus. Do not put yourself in my situation."

Yuffie rolled her head as she crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"I don't wanna talk to him." Yuffie wailed. "He should be trying to apologize to _me_."

"It would be easier if your mobile was turned on." Vincent pulled out her phone, the feather accessory swinging free indicated that it really was her phone.

"No!"

Before she could lunge for it, Vincent's phone rang. Vincent held Yuffie at bay and answered it.

"Yes?" Yuffie leaned close to hear Cloud's muffled tone on the other side as Vincent spoke. "Really? For a month? Ever since Yuffie left? I see."

"The Turks are trying to get a hold of her. They're all over the world right now. If you learn anything, can you let them know?" Cloud's voice crackled through the speaker.

"I will." Vincent hung up and looked down at Yuffie. "Are you going to call? Or shall I?"

"Why should I care if he's in the hospital? He did it to himself; the pace he was working. Anyone else would have passed out far sooner." Yuffie scoffed.

"You never used to lie to me." Vincent had a pained look. "I am doing you a favor by calling Tseng, not Tifa."

Vincent had the phone back on his ear and Yuffie in a restraining hold before she realized what was happening.

"Tseng. Valentine. Come get Yuffie. Nibelheim. The manor."

Yuffie shoved him back and got free. With a glare, she stormed up to her room and slammed the door. Running was not a possibility. Vincent would catch her before she got ten feet from the door.

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It took Tseng and Elena until the following day to pick her up.

"I'm not going back." Yuffie told the Turks stubbornly for the fifteenth time.

"Just let me hit her, Tseng." Elena pleaded.

"No one is hitting anyone in my house." Vincent said sternly.

"I hit you last night, Vinnie." Yuffie purred. "You seemed to like it too."

"Do not even pretend that we did anything, Yuffie. Other than talk about how you love Rufus." Vincent actually rose his voice to speak over Yuffie's yelling. The Turks stood, wide-eyed, at the news.

"Are you certain?" Tseng turned to the ex-Turk. At Vincent's nod, Elena gave a wide smirk to the younger woman.

"I'm not going back." Yuffie stated again.

"What if Rufus were to ask you himself?" Tseng somehow knew that using his name would get a response to deviate from the previous sixteen times.

"You said he was hospitalized. He wouldn't come anyway."

"You're probably right, Yuffie." Tseng said. "He would stubbornly live at the office for months on end. As it is, he's hospitalized and only says one thing."

"Do you have a guess as to what that is?" Elena asked.

"How should I know?"

"Yuffie, I'm so sorry."

Vincent watched as Yuffie's eyes closed. Her resolve was strong, though.

"If he comes and asks me himself, I will _think_ about it." Yuffie opened her stone gaze and bore it into Tseng's. "But I will not go with you now and I give no promises of leaving with him either."

"Very well. Valentine, if you would continue to care for Mrs. Shinra, we would appreciate it. I will call before we bring Rufus." The Turks left.

"Yuffie." Vincent turned to the ninja, but she was already running back to her room, locking herself in. He knew that the words relayed from Rufus burned inside Yuffie. How many times did he repeat Lucrecia's words? He never counted. Yuffie heard it for herself, the day they found the Death Penalty in her cave.

He knew she hated those words.

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The hospital room was sterile. White, blank, empty, void.

Rufus only had brief moments where he was lucid. In those moments, Rufus would cry out for Yuffie before pain would wrack his mind and his heart rate would spike.

It was during those moments when the Turks tried to tell him that Yuffie was waiting for him. Four weeks went by before he said anything different.

"Yuffie's waiting?"

The Turks near about threw a party that night. From there, the President seemed to shake off the worst of the pain and started rehabilitating. Even though Reno swore that getting the air cleared between the boss and wife would heal him up right away, the doctors forced Rufus to stay until he passed their program.

Now they had been apart for nearly three months. Rufus was painfully aware of every moment they were not together. Yuffie was equally aware, but for a completely different reason.

"Nobody can get landsick! GAWD!" She curled around the toilet as waves of nausea hit her. Her yells woke Vincent for the fifth day in a row.

There was nothing he could do to help. He tried the first few times and got hit for his efforts. After that, he left her alone. The only thing he did was clean up after her as she slept. Rufus was going to be in for a surprise. Vincent's fist, which he was specially polishing his gauntlet for, and a very cranky, very emotional and very much pregnant Yuffie.

When the call came, Vincent couldn't have been more lucky. He had known; the whispers from the Galian Beast said so the first night she was there. If the Turks took any more time, he would have had to take her to the doctors himself.

"Yuffie." He knocked on the open door to peer in on the girl, clutching her pillow on her lap. The fact that is gauntlet was strapped to his arm was not ignored by Yuffie as she looked tiredly up. "Get yourself cleaned up. You have a confession to make."

"I'm not confessing anything." But Yuffie stood shakily to prepare for the war that was about to ensue.


	10. Chapter 10

Negotiations

Chapter 10

Vincent wasn't too keen on other people having a lover's quarrel in his house, but he had to remain. If only to ensure no one destroyed his home. He stood at the top of the stairs where Yuffie sat, pillow clutched to her queasy stomach.

"You promise?" Yuffie leaned into his legs and Vincent sighed.

"I already said that I would not tell him. This is between you two now. I just hope that you will make wise decisions that is best for your health and safety."

"What about happiness?"

"You have always had the ability to choose your happiness. The way I see it, you ran away from happiness when you were not honest." Vincent had become chatty over the years. It was as if angst was a bottle stopper to conversation. Now that he had nothing over which to bemoan, he could talk. Yuffie was cursed that he chose _her_ life to dissect. Mad doctors, the lot of them, and they rubbed off on the gunman. She refused to be his study subject any longer. Somehow she was going to get free.

The front doors opened and Yuffie took a bracing breath. Flanked by his dark suited Turks, Rufus stood out in the shadows in his customary light colored clothes. They stopped at the food of the stairs and their eyes met. They had not seen each other for three months, but there was an additional two weeks since they last looked into each other's eyes. Since they slept together.

Yuffie willed herself not to break first, but she tore her eyes away as Rufus said the dreaded words.

"Yuffie, I'm so sorry."

She hid the bottom half of her face in her pillow, allowing only her eyes to peek out. Rufus recalled seeing that image before. It had soon been accompanied by laughter and kisses in his memories. It was unlikely to unfold in that manner again.

"Can we talk?" Rufus's voice was raspy, as if he hadn't used it in a long time. The words felt scripted; as they were. He had written everything down. It had filled several pages as he described how he felt about her and how he had handled things wrongly.

"I'm not stopping you now, am I?" Yuffie scrutinized her husband. He had lost weight. The suit didn't fit properly and neither did his skin. She could tell that he was forced to improve his physique, doctors orders most likely. His eyes were the one thing she wouldn't look at, couldn't look at again.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie. I said something awful to you and I hurt you. I never meant for that to happen." He continued in a whisper, but she still caught it. "I never want to hurt you."

"Well, you did." So much for her silent treatment plan. Vincent hoped that her mouth would do the talking, not her brain. It had truly picked a most unfortunate event to take control of Yuffie quick fire personality. Clarity was what they needed. Hot tempers might do the trick. As long as his house didn't get damaged.

"And I apologize. I hurt too, from my words." Rufus swallowed and took a breath, trying to stabilize himself. "If I could take them back, I would."

"Tell me, exactly, which words you want back." Venom dripped from Yuffie's lips as she tore at his wound. She wanted to see his pain.

"I don't care. I don't want to see you. You can go by Kisaragi again." His eyes shone with pain as he spoke the words. Rufus's hand reached up for his neck as he winced.

That was when she saw it. The bandage.

"Phantom pains?" She asked, eyebrow raised. Sitting up straight, she almost looked like the royalty she was at the top of the stairs. "They're back?"

"You left!" Rufus snapped at the floor, unable to yell directly at her. "You promised. But you left anyway."

A pain stabbed at her. She _had_ promised. She broke that promise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." His voice was soft, like a child who knew better. "I'm just… frustrated that I can't figure out how to express myself."

Yuffie was silent, she didn't care about that. There was something else on her mind. Something much more pressing.

"What else do you want to take back? Any decisions? Actions?" Yuffie asked, haughtily, thinking of the night she gave him everything. A foot tapped her side and she growled at Vincent for his silent reminder to remain civil.

"I would want to redo the morning after we—"

"Announce it to the world, why doncha?"

"—after we had our night of intimacy." Rufus pressed. They had not 'made love,' nor did they 'just fuck.' It was too romanticized, too crude for what they did.

Reno looked floored at the statement. His mouth moved, 'they had sex and I didn't know about it' formed and the red head hit his partner like it was Rude's fault for not saying anything.

"Stop that, Reno." Rufus snapped over his shoulder even though he could not possibly see the other man. He addressed Yuffie again. "I should have told you what it meant to me. I should have told you many things. One in particular."

There was a pause and Yuffie felt it. Her sixth sense kicked in and she shot up as he started to speak.

"Yuffie, I lo-"

"No!" She threw the pillow at him, hitting him full face. "I don't accept this. I'm a liar, sure, I left. But you're a bastard and I hate you."

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Devils sang in Yuffie's head as she mentally retreated. She was running away. And she shut eyes tight.

"Boss!" Reno and Rude grabbed Rufus as he nearly collapsed. The president shoot them off. He needed to do this. A little phantom pain wasn't going to stop him.

"I understand, Yuffie. I'm a bastard. I'm an awful human without a heart and without a soul. I have no reason to be so arrogant to believe that I will ever be able to earn your love, let alone anything else. You may say that you hate me, but that doesn't change that I love you. The reason why I don't have a heart is because it was yours from a long time ago." He was climbing the stairs.

Yuffie tried to back away, but Vincent shook his head. It was one thing to break a promise to Rufus; that had come easily. Breaking one with Vincent was impossible. She couldn't run. She had to confront the problem or, at the very least, wait it out.

"I've always loved you. And I hope that someday you will see the truth of my words and let me prove it to you." Rufus reached the top. He hovered on the last step before the landing. He wanted to look into her eyes.

"You'll be cold in your grave before that happens." Yuffie turned away, staring down the hall instead of looking at him.

"At least, when you kill me, you'll bury me properly; unlike that father, right?" His words were quiet, but they triggered lightning fast in Yuffie's mind. She shoved him. Hard.

He fell back. The Turks yelled and rushed forward. Vincent reached out too. It was like it was in slow motion. Yuffie saw the look of acceptance in his pure untainted eyes.

And then Yuffie's hand was in his. Trying to pull him back, trying to offer help, but it was too late. They fell together. Rufus managed to wrap himself around her on the fourth rotation. They slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, the four Turks surrounded them.

Vincent dashed down and yelled, "Yuffie!"

Confused at the ex-Turk's worry, Rufus unwrapped his arms around his wife. Pain was evident on her face as tears streamed down her face, silent cries tearing at her throat. Her arms left Rufus to clutch her midsection.

"She needs a hospital, now." Vincent picked Yuffie up out of Rufus's arms and flew for the door, ignoring the clueless man on the floor. Reno and Rude ran after Vincent as Tseng and Elena picked Rufus off the ground.

Looking down, Rufus finally saw the blood.

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The helicopter barely touched down when Vincent jumped down with Yuffie and Rude followed. Reno left to pick up the President and the other Turks. Vincent had been very persuasive in getting Reno to leave the others behind. As in, the golden gauntlet was not just for looks.

When the Turk landed the second time on top of the hospital, Rude was there and lead the group down to the emergency waiting room. When Rufus looked up, he knew things were bad. The Strifes were already there. Vincent was trying to calm Tifa while Cloud pacified the children.

He stopped by the double doors where the red light glared furiously at him.

"You-" Tifa's fist flew into Rufus's jaw. Vincent grabbed her from behind as Elena drew her gun.

"Elena." Rufus rubbed his quickly forming bruise. "Tifa, I'm sure that we don't need to resort to violence."

"It's Mrs. Strife to you, you worthless—"

"Tifa." Cloud put himself between his wife and the Shinra. "The kids can hear you."

"Momma?" Rosa called out from her seat. "Why are we at the hospital?"

"Is someone sick?" Wolfe asked.

"Not sick, sweetie." Vincent released the woman so she could kneel in front of her children. "Auntie Yuffie is hurt."

"Hurt? She can have my bandaid." Rosa pulled something from her pocket. It was a bandage with cartoon cactuars on it.

"That's sweet, Rosa. But it's more serious than just one bandaid." Tifa smoothed a hand over the blonde hair.

"She can have mine too!" Wolfe pulled out a moogle adorned package and held it out.

"You can give it to Auntie Yuffie when we can see her." Cloud sat beside his son, trying to completely ignore the other blonde man. The ex-SOLDIER could never quite get over his hate for Shin-Ra.

"Valentine." Rufus turned to the only person he had a chance at getting an answer. "What happened? How did you know?"

The gauntlet gleamed as Vincent lifted his hand and slowly formed a fist. It was a silent threat, but Rufus had to know.

"Hit me if you must. But you have to tell me." Rufus squared himself in front of Vincent.

"Yuffie is pregnant."

A strangled wail echoed from behind the doors.

"Give it back!"

Rufus hit the floor hard. His knees gave out, hitting the floor first before the other joints gave way to gravity. His eyes glassed over as anguish wiped his mind clear of any and all thought.

"Yuffie _was_ pregnant." Vincent's whisper was like an executioner's axe.

Tifa started crying and set off the children. Cloud had his arms full of his family and looked just as the miserable as the crying mess he held. Elena choked a little and had to take a step back to compose herself.

On the floor, Rufus couldn't do anything, couldn't think about anything. Looking up at Vincent, the near-immortal man seemed like a dark angel. Wise, knowing, compassionate.

"What do I do?"

"Are you prepared?" Vincent was sad. The pain and torturous path Rufus was about to step on was akin to that of Vincent's. It was a burden, never lifting, eternal. The weight of love and all its companions.

"For Yuffie? Anything." Rufus stood and met the unwavering look of an experienced man.

They talked in hushed tones. They were in a hospital after all. Tifa calmed down and consoled her children, telling them about how to act when they saw Yuffie.

Over an hour passed before the red light turned off and doctors appeared before the group. The lead doctor sought out Vincent, the man who brought in their patient, thinking that he was her next of kin. The stoic man dragged Rufus from the chair to talk with the doctor.

"Her husband." Vincent introduced to the man.

"Mr. Shinra." The doctor was surprised. He had not paid attention to the specifics of who his patient really was; giving her medical attention was infinitely more important. "Your wife's condition has stabilized. She is under some heavy medication and is sleeping. The procedure was a great strain on her, so we would like to keep her under supervision until we can better assess her condition."

"And the baby?" Rufus managed to get out. His nerves were coming back and his years of being a heartless businessman were kicking in. More like, kicking out the pathetic, emotional side of himself that was completely malfunctioning in his mind.

"I'm sorry, sir. There was no way it would have survived. It was too early in the stages and we had to save your wife." The doctor was sympathetic, but he was right. A baby only in the first few months would have been impossible to save.

"Thank you, doctor, for saving my wife. When can we see her?" Rufus's voice was evening out.

"I'll let you see her tonight, Mr. Shinra, but I must insist that the others wait until she wakes and we are able to check her again." The doctor gave Vincent a look, undecipherable.

"As we discussed." Vincent told Rufus before going to tell the Strife's they would not be seeing Yuffie that night.

Rufus followed a nurse to Yuffie's recovery room. It was small, for one patient only.

"I'll give you ten minutes, Mr. Shinra." The nurse closed the door to give them privacy.

Yuffie was pale under her sun kissed skin. A result from the blood loss. The beeps of the heart monitor were strong and even, a testimony to her health. Wires protruded from her blankets, and Rufus prayed that the ones giving her fluids would not bruise her tender skin.

Sweat matted her dark locks to her forehead. The sink had a small washcloth, so Rufus wet it and lay cooling strokes across her brow to clean her. Putting the towel aside, he brushed his fingers over her hair, making sure it wouldn't fall into her eyes.

The strands were very long, having not been cut for the three months they were apart. Yuffie's shoulders were no longer a description word for her hair. As he ran his fingers lightly over her soft features, he spoke to her in a whisper.

"I was told not to apologize any more. Instead, I want to say 'thank you.' Thank you for being you. For surviving, for giving me the chance to see you again. Giving me time to speak to you. To explain something I wish I could take back.

"I know things cannot be undone. If I could I would. I am many things. 'Cold, heartless bastard' being the forerunner. But I am also 'just Rufus' and 'your husband' and 'hopeless'… 'hopelessly in love' with you.

"So, my pledge to you, Yuffie Shinra, is to never hide. Not to run away or accept failure. But to accept help when it is offered.

"You were the one who taught me that."

Rufus caressed Yuffie's cheek, feeling the warmth. He knew it would be a long time until he would be close to her again.

"I love you. I always have, always will. And some day, I hope you will let me prove it to you."

With soft, almost hesitant, lips, Rufus pressed a kiss to her temple. Smoothing her hair one last time, he straightened the blankets so she would be warm, and walked out the door.

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"I hate you."

Rufus was glad that she finally stopped throwing things at him. The two weeks stay at the hospital kept her 'safe from him' as she put it. But eventually, she went home with him.

Unhappily, Cloud had become the middleman between Yuffie and Rufus during her stay at the hospital.

"No, she doesn't want to see you."

Those words were uttered several times throughout the weeks as Rufus went to visit her every day. Cloud was good enough to take the single white rose Rufus brought and pass it along to Yuffie. Once, Cloud walked with the President to the hospital exit and talked with him.

"Where are you getting roses in the middle of winter?"

"A business colleague. He has a greenhouse. It takes a lot of energy to regulate, so we've been working together. He has been kind enough to send these to me." Rufus indicated to the rose Cloud now held in his hand. "It's nothing that I have been able to do for Yuffie myself, but…"

"It's hard on you, isn't it?" Cloud knew. He had spent more than a little emotional investment in people over the years.

"Yes. But I hope…" Rufus sighed, a moment of weakness, before shoring up his strength again. "Thank you, Strife. For you and your family. It means a lot to me that you protect Yuffie. Even if it's from me."

"Hey, I'm just following my wife's orders." Cloud shrugged. "Hang in there."

Even though Rufus tried, it was tiring, having a wife that was so vocal about her hatred. It would have been impossible for Rufus, but Tifa sent Marlene to take care of Yuffie. The ninja had nearly bedridden herself, staring off into space for days after her hospital release. The only time she came out of it was when Rufus came in the morning with her breakfast.

She would throw things, yell, hit. But after some time, she fell into a routine: glare at him, say 'I hate you,' and walk away. Her health had even returned to the point where she could go to work. Though Reeve was very careful to send a car for her every day, rather than risk her doing something stupid on her way to the office.

Things did not help that Rufus was swamped with work. He was learning the true task of juggling loving someone and having a high level job.

Since Yuffie didn't let him sleep in their bed, Rufus was always surrounded by work. When he lost himself in this work, he did not feel like he was drowning in despair.

Yuffie noticed.

It wasn't like she couldn't see that he loved her, that he was working hard for her. It was just that she was hiding.

She didn't blame him. Not for pushing her away, or getting her pregnant, or even the miscarriage. Those were her burden as well. What she didn't want was for him to blame himself. She saw what the burden did to her friends. Not just Vincent and Cloud, but subtly in Tifa, Barret, even Cid and Nanaki.

Every day, she saw Rufus come into their room and set up breakfast for one at the table by the window. He would place the bud vase with the single white rose beside it, turn, smile at her and say, "Good morning, Yuffie. I love you."

"I hate you." She would reply each time. At first, it was harsh, then the hard edge melted away, then it was just the words. Then the slight pause, the falter, the bite of pain as she saw it cut into him.

Then one day, Rufus said, "I love you."

And Yuffie replied, "I know."


	11. Chapter 11

Negotiations

Chapter 11

It was storming hard. Yuffie hated winters at the city. Flooding was always an issue and it was like it was always angry.

She had crawled into bed hours before, but couldn't settle down. For some reason, she was antsy. Thinking that a glass of water would help, she went to the bathroom and remembered that Marcus had reclaimed all the dishes she had pilfered away.

That didn't leave her a choice; she had to go downstairs. A sliver of light shone from under the library door as she passed it. Curious, since it was late and she knew Rufus slept in the front room, Yuffie quietly opened the door.

She hadn't gone into the library since she moved back. There was nothing to prepare her for the mountains of papers she saw there. Newspapers, magazines, reports, reference books, print outs. There was barely a path that wove between the piles and Yuffie carefully navigated through it in the semi-darkness. Only a single desk light was on, but as she approached it, she saw that Rufus was not near the pool of light.

"You should be getting some rest." Rufus's voice was soft, almost inaudible over the thrashing rain on the large windows. Yuffie caught Rufus's shape as lightning flashed behind him. "Go get some sleep, Yuffie."

"What's all this?" She ignored him. It was their first conversation in a long time and Yuffie wanted to know what he could possibly be working on that would require so much work.

"Research. For so long, the company has been focused on using mako reactors to create electricity, but now we use solar, wind and hydraulics to create electricity. But there have been talks of whether electricity is the product that is really best." Rufus was playing with something in his hands as he spoke, but he put it down on the window sill before walking towards her. "We're looking for a new power, a new product, to develop for the people."

Yuffie hadn't been so close to Rufus in several weeks, ever since they fell down the stairs. Dark circles stood out in stark relief against his porcelain skin and his lips looked chapped. Unconsciously, Yuffie ran her tongue across her lips to moisten her own.

"Why are you still awake?" Yuffie noticed his sleeping attire. Usually, Rufus fell asleep five minutes after changing.

"I don't sleep much, nowadays." Mindlessly, he picked up the top sheet of paper on his desk to read what it said.

"How long since you last had a solid night of sleep?" Yuffie had a guess. She hoped she was wrong.

"Four months. Three weeks. Five days."

Yuffie was right.

He hadn't had a full night's rest since they slept together.

Paper shuffling pulled Yuffie from her revere. Placing her small hand over the sheets, she pressed them down to the desk where Rufus finally let go.

"Come on." She took his wrist, flipped off the lamp, and led Rufus through his deathtrap maze, using her ninja skills, out of the room. Her grip tightened slightly as she felt him resist at the foot of the stairs, but he followed at her single persistent tug.

They got to their room and Rufus stopped. He hadn't slept in their bed for months. It wasn't "theirs" so much as it was now "Yuffie's."

"Get in and sleep." Yuffie pushed him to his side as she kicked the door slightly so it slid mostly shut.

"Are you certain, Yuffie?"

"Did I stutter?" Yuffie climbed into her side and snuggled into her pillow. She didn't hear Rufus move. "One…Two…"

The bed shifted as Rufus laid down and settled himself into the foreign feeling of a bed.

"Good night, Yuffie. I love you." He whispered before sighing and falling blissfully asleep.

"I know." Yuffie whispered back, half in her dream world as well.

It had been a long time since she slept so well on her own. Four months, three weeks and five days, to be exact.

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Wake up Cat's meows woke Yuffie and Rufus at the same time. The wide feline eyes peered down at the couple and their, suddenly, awkward realization of their positions.

Yuffie untangled her limbs from where she had entwined them with Rufus's. The removal of her warmth was like jumping into the snow with only the thinnest of clothes. He looked away sadly at how fast she scrambled away from him. There wasn't anything he could do, but grin and bear it.

"Good morning, Yuffie." He wanted to ask how she slept, but watching her hands busily try to straighten her clothes and hair, he opted for something else. "Thank you for letting me sleep in the bed. It's been a long time since I've gotten such good sleep."

"Uh…yeah. No prob." Yuffie mumbled. "Sleep in the bed whenever you want. With all your work, you should get good rest."

She bustled off into the bathroom, leaving Rufus in bed to pet the cat.

Surprisingly, Yuffie also ate breakfast in the dining room with Rufus. The atmosphere was a little tense, but it wasn't bad, either. It passed like a silent game of tag; where one tried to steal a look at the other, but when their eyes looked up, the first would flinch away.

There was the arrival of Yuffie's car and, as she stood up to leave, Rufus bid her farewell. "I love you, Yuffie. Have a good day at work."

"You too."

Neither knew which "too," Yuffie meant. Rufus was hopeful and looked up at her in question. She had a furrowed brow and just shook her head as she left, confused herself.

Throughout the day, Rufus found himself smiling. Something that frightened the employees just as much as his temper. It was progress. Whatever it was. Rufus had all intentions to cultivate the precious seed that was planted until it grew so he could see what fruit it would bear.

Yuffie, on the other side of town, found her mind wandering often. Her words flitted through her mind, then the memory of the warmth she felt while she slept. She gave up on paperwork at midday. Taking part in a survey team, she went into the ruins of Midgar. Things were different in the quiet rubble.

It was amazing, Yuffie thought, that one man had created the entire, multi-level city. Rufus's father had been awful. Building an empire and forcing his people to divide into classes, into slums. But Shin-Ra was built by a strong willed individual.

She saw that same trait in the son. But Rufus had something his father lacked; compassion. Yuffie was sure he learned that from his mother. As she did.

Never, in all her years, did she meet Mrs. Shinra. Had she, they would have had long talks about being the wife of a Shinra. Yuffie had a million questions to ask about Rufus. Things a mother would know; only what his mother would know.

Yuffie did not like thinking of the past. Of the deceased. She knew Rufus lost his mother, as she did. The circumstances were different, between their mother's deaths. Hers was by mortal wound, his by prolonged illness. Though both stemmed from the War.

There was no precedence. Yuffie had never dated before, didn't know the way of the heart.

Aeris's church was nearby. Yuffie went in to think.

The water glittered, pure, shining. Sinking into a bench, Yuffie allowed her mind to clear, to mirror the state of the water. It was much easier to let everything slip away in the holy sanctuary, in the healing place.

A breeze ruffled her hair, making small ripples in the pool. It was hypnotizing and Yuffie let it lull her. Whispers entered her mind.

Women. Words of love and care of every kind seemed to come from the water.

Aeris said once, one night when Yuffie was feverish and in pain, that healings came in all forms. The simplest could be a caring touch or a kind word. She said that there is no true pain that can be born from a kindness; no pain that cannot be healed by kindness.

"But, Aeris, you never said where kindness comes from." Yuffie breathed.

"It comes from inside, silly." Aeris's voice echoed, a smile in her words. "It comes from the truth inside your heart."

"Easy for you. You couldn't hate anyone. Not Tseng, Sephiroth, Hojo, Shin-Ra, Jenova…"

"Oh sweetie, you just let those things get in the way. Move them aside. Move your hate, anger, fear, aside; and let your other emotions free. Everything else will come to you."

"And you wonder why everyone calls you 'Mother.'" Yuffie laughed as she roused her mind back to her physical surroundings. There was a faint sensation of her shoulder getting shoved as she looked around the church again.

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Yuffie was tapping her foot while she surveyed the library. The mountains of work were atrocious. Most of the papers were months old, the piled books weren't even from their own collection. In her study of the piles of papers, Yuffie came across something most intriguing.

A picture frame. Simple, plain, easily overlooked.

She stifled a gasp at her own image.

She remembered that day. Rufus had taken off for the city to take pictures of Wutai. He had returned when she was playing in the river with her friends. That was when he must have snapped the picture.

As to the reason why he had it, Yuffie was completely baffled. Biting her lip, she paced the cramped room, taking her fingers along the frame as she thought. Their home had become a second office, a prison, for Rufus and he was drowning.

Many good people were lost to their work. They had nothing else. Yuffie did not want to admit that Rufus had nothing other than work. She did not want him to have nothing. Worse yet, she did not want to deny the one thing he wanted because she was too afraid to try.

"What happened to all the books?" Rufus's voice floated up the stairs when he got home. There were sounds of shuffling as he poked around the library.

"I boxed them up and sent them to your office." Yuffie said from the doorway. The look of surprise that crossed his face was near hilarious. "I couldn't even recognize that this was supposed to be in our home."

"So, everything is back in the office?"

"Yes."

"What am I supposed to do then?" He looked like a lost moogle.

"Maybe you could relax. Do something fun, even?" Yuffie walked into the room.

"Did you pack everything yourself?" Rufus asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, I lift with my legs, not my back."

"Oh, good." He shook his head. "No, not that. There was something, personal, in here—"

"You mean the picture of me? Don't worry, it's somewhere safe."

"May I have it back, please?"

"I rather like where it is." Beckoning, she led Rufus to the living room. He noticed that all of his things were missing. "What do you think?"

There was a table along the wall by the door. For the past ten months, it had been bare, but now pictures adorned it. AVALANCHE after Kadaj's defeat and after Deepground. The best of their wedding pictures. And in the center, the picture of Yuffie.

Rufus stood in front of them.

"I don't know if there are other pictures you want up. I never had a camera and I don't know where you would have put yours. And asking Reno is like opening a water dam of trouble." Yuffie stood close to him, stealing a bit of his warmth. It was raining again outside.

"Why? All of a sudden?" Rufus half turned to her.

"I don't know." Yuffie sighed. "I don't know how to express everything that's going on in here."

Yuffie's fingers wiggled crazily around her head. It was extremely Yuffie-esk of her and it made Rufus smile. Taking his hand, she pulled him to the couch.

"I want to try, though. You've been patient. Maybe too patient?" Yuffie said, raising an eyebrow at her picture. "I feel… maybe we don't understand each other. And I think I want to."

"Is that why you got rid of my work?" Rufus settled into the couch.

"Home is home. There's work to do here already." Yuffie mimicked Rufus and snuggled into the soft couch they never sat on together. "Will you help me?"

"For you? Anything."

They spent the rest of the evening alternating between conversation and long pauses of silence. Frivolous topics like the weather and current trends were the bulk of their interaction. Having not talked in a long time, they both automatically tried to ease towards getting used to each other's voice again.

That night, Yuffie went to sleep with a heart free of guilt and smiled the entire night. Rufus was glad on two fronts, to finally connect with Yuffie and, more importantly maybe, that he was able to sleep. He too, slept with a smile.

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Yuffie started working out in the mornings again. It wasn't that she wanted to leave the warm bed where she could smile like a twitter-pated girl, but she was finally feeling like she wanted to exercise. The first day, she felt a little guilty, not wanting Rufus to get the wrong idea and also because it meant she was finally over her miscarriage.

Her first worry was not a problem when she saw Rufus watching her from their balcony, as he used to, toothbrush in his mouth. What she found out later was that he had been sad that she had stopped doing something that was her lifelong routine. Now that she felt comfortable enough to return to her old habits, she was more likely to go back to her cheerful self.

She scowled and stuck her tongue out at him, retorting that there was nothing that would completely stop her from being cheerful again. "Arrogant, egotistical and self-important" was how she described him as he thought he was so great as to bring lasting ruin to the Great Ninja Yuffie.

"I'm glad to hear that." Rufus gave her a smile that made her heart skip. She punched him in the arm and ran away in embarrassment.

"I'm going to get a heart attack from you."

"Stop running around like a chocobo without a head, then." Rufus yelled from where he sat. When Yuffie popped her head back in to reply, he cut her off, saying, "Thanks for admitting that I can make your heart beat irregularly."

The wink he gave her was almost as bad as the smile. She huffed, tossed her long hair and gave him a haughty smile.

"Time for work. See you later."

"I love you, Yuffie." Rufus called after her. She threw him a happy smile and wave through the window before crawling into the WRO car.

That night they went out for dinner. Marcus's wedding anniversary was that day so Rufus gave him the night off. Rufus surprised everyone when he showed up at the WRO office to pick up his wife. Whispers flew up the floors to Yuffie to make sure she wanted to go with Rufus; otherwise, the armed employees were all too happy to escort him to his car.

After thanking them for their concern, Yuffie waved her coworkers away before greeting Rufus.

"This is a surprise."

"I thought we could eat out together. We've never done it before and since Marcus isn't cooking…" Rufus opened Yuffie's door. She paused, giving him an overly dramatic stage gasp.

"My! President Shinra, are you asking me out to a date?"

"It's just dinner." He hid his bashfulness under his motion of sweeping his hair out of his eyes.

"Sure. Just dinner." Yuffie hopped into the car.

It was raining when they left the restaurant, so they opted for another winter night in. The weather had been gradually warming up, but the occasional shower still rolled around in preparation for spring.

Humming lightly, Yuffie tapped her fingers to the time of her own mental soundtrack. Beside her, Rufus just smiled at her antics. She might playfully push it aside, but she was definitely falling back into her carefree self again.

During the dinner, she hadn't even noticed that she was invading his space. Not that he minded. She chose to sit beside him at the small square table, rather than across from him. Because of that, her arm would brush his as she would reach for her glass and her leg bumped his as she crossed them. The first time he felt the light pressure below the table, Rufus jumped a little and the water spilled out of his cup and onto his cuff.

Innocently, she asked what was wrong as she patted his arm dry with her napkin. He managed to breeze through the excuse of, "I thought I felt something touch my leg," quite well. Until she responded.

"Oh, sorry, that was my foot."

Somehow she managed to kick off her sneakers without anyone noticing.

"I know, it's weird. I just don't like eating with shoes on if I can help it. It's a Wutai thing, I guess."

The rest of the meal went without further mishap and they got home fairly dry.

"Your hair's all wet." Rufus touched the ends of Yuffie locks as a few droplets fell as she took her off her jacket. "You should probably shower and put dry clothes on."

"I thought it was traditionally the woman's job to be fussy." Yuffie headed to the stairs. "But you're right. Your hair is fine since you have so much product in it that it isn't even wet."

"Sassy princess." Rufus jested.

Yuffie went up and stepped into the shower, letting her skin warm up. She was surprised at how easy it was to talk with Rufus. She never had to watch what she was saying, he never yelled at her for being loud or crass like her father did. Also, he was trying to take everything in stride. There were some things she said that made him sad, some things he said that that made her upset, but they would apologize and move on. They had become friends and they were starting to understand each other a little better.

There was still a long way to go and there wasn't even a clear end goal, but Yuffie wanted to keep going forward. If that meant going with Rufus, then she was convinced that she was going to do it as best she could.

She dried off and put comfy clothes on before drying her hair. Rufus went up as he heard the hair dryer and went into the shower to wash the gel out of his hair.

Yuffie was brushing her hair flat when Rufus walked out of the shower room with just a towel around his waist. She oogled secretly at his reflection.

"I still don't believe it." Yuffie commented to his back as he went for his closet to grab clothes.

"Don't believe what?"

"Ten years? I mean _seriously_. There must have been _someone_ even remotely attractive enough who threw herself at you that you slept with." Yuffie waited ample time to let him slip boxers and pants on before entering the room with a dry towel for his hair.

"Fifteen."

"What? That many? You slept with fifteen women when you said none? Why even bother lying?" Yuffie was outraged on the inside. Only the towel twisted in her hands showed her anger.

"No. Fifteen years." Rufus sat on the bed and looked at his wife as she crashed beside him. "I never corrected you before.

"Wait…"

"I referenced Meteorfall when I took the position of President. What I did not tell you was that I hadn't been with anyone since my mother passed away." Rufus looked at his hands, water trailing down to drip onto them. Noticing that, Yuffie covered his head with the towel and started drying it.

"Why not?" Yuffie was now running her fingers through the golden strands, fluffing air through them and massaging his scalp.

"I was out… with someone…and didn't say…" He stopped, took a deep breath and focused. "Didn't say good bye. Never told her thank you and I love you. I let her die; alone."

Yuffie rubbed soothing circles on his back, giving him comfort as best she could.

"I think she knows. And you know what?" Yuffie cupped his cheek and turned his face towards her. "I think she would want you to let it go. To remember happy things."

Rufus melted into her touch.

"Thank you for sharing with me." Pulling his head down, she let it rest on her shoulder as she gave him a warm hug. Nodding silently, Rufus sat still, enjoying the feeling of her small arms. They sat like that for a few moments before Yuffie spoke again. "You told me something. I should tell you something. What would you like to know?"

"Did you know that I get jealous?"

"You?" Yuffie chuckled. "What good does jealousy do? You can have whatever you want. Why mention this?"

"Yuri." Shifting, Rufus turned his head up to stare at Yuffie. "Will you tell me?"

"An old friend. He helped me when the others turned against me." Yuffie sighed. The memory of her father's betrayal, the country hating her, the blame of bringing Geostigma from Midgar. She told him of the entire thing. How she tried to cure it. But how, in the end, she left to help Cloud and the others.

"You never?" Rufus asked, attempting to discern her emotions towards this Yuri character.

"I thought. Maybe a brief moment. But, he was dying." Yuffie bit her bottom lip. "I didn't. I didn't love him. Maybe I should have. A little. But I didn't want to be hurt again."

"But you cared. For all of them." Rufus sat up and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You can't help it."

"Guilty as charged. But, see, no need for jealousy." Yuffie patted his knee in assurance.

By the end of the night, they were curled up together under the covers, laughing at old stories until they fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Negotiations

Chapter 12

It was almost their anniversary. The newspapers had been buzzing for a week about it. Yuffie and Rufus felt the pressure.

"Should we do something public? Something they can safely gossip about?" Yuffie paced in their living room, newspaper tapping her knee as she walked. "It's better than them making up rumors."

"What happened to private lives?" Rufus was brushing several coats of fur out of the cats.

"Our births weren't private, why should our married life?"

"No one knows my birthday. Parents kept it secret." Rufus dropped a cat in surprise as Yuffie threw herself beside him. The cat yowled and ran off for freedom.

"You…aren't harassed on your birthday?" Yuffie leaned in, skeptical.

"Nope."

"So when do you age?" Rufus laughed at her question.

"Officially, at the new year. That's all people know." Rufus shrugged.

"Guess it's too late for me. I guess I'll do you a favor and share all my presents and attention with you from now on. Aren't I nice?" Yuffie planted a peck on his cheek before getting up to pace again. It was a new habit she picked up. It seemed to calm her nerves and Rufus didn't mind it at all.

"Yes. Extremely generous. Let's have dinner. How does Costa del Sol sound?" Rufus picked up another cat to brush out.

"Really, vacation at the beach in May?" Yuffie asked. "It's not too public? What rumors will they say about us if we go away?"

"We'll make plenty of public appearances. We'll go to the beach, go shopping, sit at the bar."

"If you're sure." Yuffie sat down and let the cat escape from Rufus to clamber over her. "Wouldn't it be weird for us to suddenly appear together?"

"Stop over thinking things, dear." Rufus kissed her hair. "And go pack. It'll be warm there."

"Will your jealousy stop me from wearing my bathing suit?" Coyly, Yuffie made a sultry look to her husband. Though she would joke about his jealousy, she never did anything to evoke it.

"Promise not to look at anyone other than me?"

"Does staring in horror count?"

"No."

"What if your pasty white skin blinds me?" Yuffie got a shove for her retort.

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The next week found them in the ever balmy weather of Costa del Sol. Yuffie was resting up from her bout with her seasickness while Rufus settled into their room.

"How're you feeling?" Rufus placed a cool towel on Yuffie's forehead.

"Groggy. I think that Tranquilizer was old." Yuffie groaned and kicked her legs restlessly.

"There's still plenty of time for you to rest. Or if you want, you can go out, puke on a couple of reporters and have them leave us alone."

"They'd probably just say I'm pregnant. Even though everyone and their mother knows I get seasick." Yuffie reached out and took Rufus's hand. "It takes a strong will to sit with me for the entire way over. Thank you."

"How'd you know I was there? You were passed out." Rufus was clearly surprised. With the three bottles of Tranquilizers she took, he was sure she wouldn't notice.

"You held me. Of course I knew." Struggling, Yuffie sat up, Rufus put a hand on her back to help her. "You going to try and deny it?"

"No."

"Good." Yuffie hugged him, burying her face into his shoulder. "I like it when you take care of me."

"I never knew you would want to have help." Resting his chin on her head, he felt her bubbling laughter.

"No one ever wanted to help me, so I put up the front. I'll admit there were times I needed help. Don Corneo, Nero."

"But your friends helped you. Didn't they?"

"Honestly? It was only because I stole all their materia that they looked for me at all. If not, I'd probably be Don Corneo's wife, not yours." Yuffie covered her mouth. "Urk. Bad thoughts."

"Don Corneo…sounds familiar." Rufus petted Yuffie's hair as she settled her stomach.

"Your Turks must have told you about it. Elena was his other bride candidate. It's no wonder why she clung to Tseng and the others so much afterwards. Man was crazy. Into weird stuff too." She was rubbing her wrists.

"He tied you to the cliff." He recalled the report. Reno's short page of notes hadn't meant much at the time. It only stated that they had to work with Avalanche to get Elena back from a psycho. "Reno knew who you were; I wonder why he called you 'that Wutaian shortie' in the report."

"He said what?" Yuffie pulled away and balled her fingers into a fist. He was in for a pummel next time she saw him.

"Nothing, don't think about Reno." A spurt of irritation flashed through Rufus's eye and Yuffie smiled ruefully.

"Such a devoted husband. I'm so lucky." Yuffie stood, testing if her seasickness was gone. It was. "Want to go down to the beach before dinner?"

"You feel up to it?" Rufus followed her to the door.

"Yup." She threw her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her sunglasses and bag, and slipped her shoes on to get ready.

"Brace yourself. The wolves are out." Rufus put his own shades on before leading her out to the sandy surf.

The paparazzi hid in the crowd, but it didn't matter. Everyone was staring.

"Beach!" Yuffie tore for the waves, completely ignoring the stares, just like only she could. "Rufus!"

Clearly, she thought he was lagging on purpose. He caught up to her midway to the water.

"It's pretty." Yuffie commented.

"Yeah." Rufus was looking at her. He pulled out a slim camera and snapped a picture of her.

"What was that?" Yuffie turned at the sound and looked at the camera in Rufus's hands. "Stealing pictures of me again?"

"It's hard to resist." Rufus lifted the camera again.

"We should have pictures of both of us. And not just the ones people publish for a story." She stepped in front of Rufus and turned the camera around so he could snap a picture of them together.

They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the shade of an umbrella together. Yuffie stole the camera and took liberal pictures of the two of them. Thankfully, technology created the digital camera in the years since Rufus stole his first picture of her. The beach was filled with Yuffie's laughter as they scrolled through the images.

Yuffie, surprisingly, had a good eye and stored some photos of the scenery, and later, the town, to decorate their house. They managed to have a good dinner, even with the camera men trying to sneak in.

"They're going to follow us to the hotel, aren't they?" Yuffie leaned across the table to ask Rufus over dessert.

"Of course. If they didn't, they really wouldn't be doing their job properly."

They strolled around the dark town afterwards, walking a little to help digest the food.

"There's something I want to talk to you about." Yuffie gave Rufus a sidelong glance to see his response; a slight frown. Slipping her arm through his, she smiled and said, "It's nothing bad, I promise."

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"I'd like to restart negotiations with you. About us."

"I thought you said it was nothing bad." Rufus commented.

"These conditions are simple things. Don't worry. And they can be flexible." Yuffie dragged him towards the path back to the hotel.

"Careful now. People might overhear and have a misconception of your words and your eagerness." Rufus purposely dragged his feet to make Yuffie stamp hers in irritation.

"Just hurry up!" Yuffie tugged at his arm. "Come on."

"Alright, I'm coming."

Yuffie threw a sarcastic kiss to the cameras before closing and locking the door when they got to their room.

"What needs to be negotiated?" Rufus was sitting on the bed, taking his shoes off while Yuffie stole glances out the peephole and window until the paparazzi dispersed.

"Not much really." Yuffie kicked off her shoes and peeled off her socks, exposing her long legs for Rufus to admire. "It's more like, for our anniversary, I want to make some things clear. It's not much of a present, I know, but it's something I really want to give you."

Rufus watched her climb onto the bed beside him. She probably never even considered that every movement she made to move towards him made his breath quicken. Clearing his throat, Rufus asked simply, "Oh?"

"Condition one: you love me, right?"

"As I keep telling you." Rufus said flatly. "Always."

"Then this should be an indisputable condition." Yuffie held out a hand and Rufus took it. "You love me forever, even with all my bad habits and I… will love you too."

"You'll only love me if I love you?" Creases in his brow formed as he frowned.

"It's not like that." Yuffie huffed. "I mean to say that I love you, idiot!"

She smacked his chest repeatedly with her open palm to show her frustration at botching her confession.

"You love me?"

"Yes."

"Prove it."

"Not right now. We're conducting business." Yuffie turned her nose up and away from him, haughtily.

"Alright. No mixing business with pleasure. Then let's finish these negotiations. I have more interesting ones we could be doing." He gave her a lusty look before she hit him again.

"Fine. Condition two: be there for me. Good times and bad times. And I'll be there for you. To help, to comfort, to beat up skeazy guys in alleys." Rufus's deep throat laughter infected her until she giggled a little.

"Deal. Are we almost done?" Rufus leaned in close.

"Almost." Yuffie grabbed at Rufus's wandering hands. Not that she wanted to stop him, just delay long enough to finish what she started. Leaving him to do what he was planning would leave her mind unable to grasp any thoughts. "Condition three: you will be my friend, my most loyal confidant, my faithful partner for the rest of our lives. As I will be for you."

"Wholeheartedly. Now may I kiss you?"

"Hm…" Yuffie tapped her chin, pensive. "No."

"No?" Rufus was rapidly falling off his high.

"I'm going to kiss you." Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips hotly on his.

A groan came from Rufus as he pulled Yuffie closer to him on the bed.

"Finally." Rufus rested his forehead on Yuffie's when she finally pulled away. "Why now?"

"You're going to kill the mood? No talking." Yuffie grabbed him again, running her fingers roughly through his hair. Rufus answered in kind by pulling them further up the bed. He nipped her bottom lip before lifting off of her.

"Wait for me." He flipped a lamp on, crossed the room, turned off the overhead lights, then crawled back atop Yuffie who had just enough time to lie back.

"I knew you were always about to snap." Yuffie murmured against his persuasive mouth. She was more than complacent to his advances.

"Were you purposely holding out on me?" Rufus licked the shell of her ear as he spoke in a low, husky tone.

"Ugh, less talk; use your mouth for something else." Yuffie moaned as his hands roamed to her soft skin.

"My pleasure, princess." He took up his task with intense concentration. After stripping her of her shirt and shorts, he paused to ask her, "Are my negotiation skills persuasive enough for you?"

"I don't know." Yuffie freed Rufus from his jacket and shirt, leaving her to run her fingers over his toned muscles. "I think I need to see more of your skills to tell for sure. Just what can you persuade me to do?"

"Let's see…" Rufus kissed her neck. "I think I can get you to moan my name."

"Bring it on." Yuffie had to bite her lip to stop from saying his name as he suckled her soft skin. Her fingers clawed at his back as she bucked under his carefully calculated ministrations.

"Say my name." He blew onto her skin and travelled his lips around to find another and another sensitive place to leave cherry red marks.

"No." Yuffie ground out of her clenched teeth. "Lower."

"Say my name." Rufus said again, teasing her by running his lips where she wanted them.

"Rufus." She strangled out.

"Yes? What can I do for you, love?"

"There. Suck there." Yuffie let out a throaty sigh as he complied, even if it was with triumphant lips.

"Such a foul mouthed girl I married." Rufus tsked as he pulled back. He planned on torturing her long and slow as payback for all the years and months he was denied her affections.

"Foul mouth?" Yuffie pouted cutely. "I guess you don't want anything from it then."

"Oh, no you don't." Rufus pinned her wrists down to the bed. "You're going to use it so it doesn't say things like that."

"Uh-huh. It'll just _do_ it instead of _saying_ it, is that right?" Yuffie smiled coyly as she ran a foot up the inside of his leg to the bulge in his pants, making him groan. "You're lucky you married someone so flexible."

"Is that so? I don't see the benefits. You'll have to prove it to me." Rufus managed to gasp out.

"Underestimating the Great Ninja Yuffie will be your downfall." Yuffie used her toes to skillfully undo belt, button and zipper on Rufus's pants as he held her hands tightly. When Yuffie slid her foot down his front to push his slacks down, Rufus buried his head into the crook of her neck and panted her name over and over. "That's my name. Use it till you're hoarse, Rufus."

"Do something to earn that right." Rufus grit his teeth. He never knew that sex was a battle of wits. Maybe if he turned off the light she would let him ride her without any more unnecessary words. His hand left her wrist to reach for the lamp. Before he knew it, the world tilted and Yuffie had him on his back with her straddling one of his legs.

"And here I thought you wanted to see. Why else would you have turned _on_ the lamp to begin with?" Sitting back on his leg, she let Rufus stare at her, completely shameless.

"I thought I said you were sexy regardless to what you wear. Why lace again?" Rufus dragged his fingers over her breasts and the scant blue fabric. "And blue. Such an ordinary, non-Yuffie color."

"I figured that a sight you always wanted to see should match the color of the eyes that will be staring at me." Yuffie rubbed herself on his bare leg, letting him feel the wetness that soaked through the thin fabric over her womanhood. "Are you enjoying it?"

Rather than replying, Rufus bent his leg, bucking the light woman up to tilt over him. Her hands splayed out on the pillow on either side of Rufus's head to balance herself. With confident hands, Rufus reached for her back, unclasping her bra before slipping his fingers to the soft, now free, flesh.

Instinctively, Yuffie pressed her chest lower, trying to feel more of his massaging fingers, which pushed her sensitive apex into his leg, giving her all the more reason to let out the animalistic groan of pleasure. Yuffie managed to fling her bra off the side of the bed to join the rest of their clothes before panting Rufus's name.

With each fresh wave of pressure Rufus administered, Yuffie felt her hips rub and thrust against the firm leg Rufus had planted between hers. She was panting silently when she crested the first time, nearly collapsing on top of Rufus, slick fluid now rendering her lace panties an obsolete piece of clothing.

"You're the devil." Yuffie panted from where she hovered over him.

"I did nothing. You came all on your own accord. How can touching your breasts make you so wet?" Rufus released her breasts to hold her to his chest. She finally relaxed and lay on top of him, catching her breath.

"I am not." Just for argument's sake, Yuffie had to retort.

"I'm sure you are." Rufus pulled the useless fabric down just enough to reach over her backside to enter her moist entrance easily. "Moan for me."

She already was. His fingers were like magic inside her, fiery one moment, icy the next, then it felt like gravity imploded in her and her walls clenched uncontrollably around his inserted digits. Continuous movements made her ride it out the entire way, moaning, clawing and kissing him hard.

"R-Ru-Rufus." Her stamina was fading under his dedication to her pleasure.

"Yes, princess?"

"Take me."

"Take you where?" He was already moving her to her back, pulling the, now completely soaked, garment off of her as well as kicking off his very strained boxers and tossing them away.

"Take me over, ride me, do me, fuck me. Whatever, I want you in me, now!" Yuffie bit out. Her hair was fanned out, strands falling over her heaving chest.

"Foul mouth. I said it before, I say it again." Rufus kissed her, but didn't enter her.

"Fine, I'll give you a sample of my foul mouth later. But put it in, now. Please?" Yuffie's hips bucked up, but he didn't give her what she wanted.

"Compromise?"

"What? At a time like this?" Yuffie was nearly tearing her hair out. "I thought you wanted this."

"I'm not going to…ride you or fuck you. But instead, I'm going to make love to you. And I'm going to do this act of love, many, many, many times." For each 'many,' he pressed the end of his very eager, very painful erection to her entrance, making her eyes roll back in anticipation.

"Fine. Deal. Love me. Repeatedly. I'll reciprocate."

"Big word."

"Been around you too long. No more big words." Yuffie lifted her hips.

"I love you." Rufus slid into her, again and again.

"I love you too… if you go harder." Yuffie gasped and he obliged with enthusiasm.

They hit their stride together and they clung to each other as they spiraled over the edge. Over and over, they entwined, sometimes playful, other soft, hard, slow, fast. Sometimes not even coming at all. Yuffie proved what her foul mouth could do, and she was all too eager to demonstrate it for him repeatedly as he rested.

The light was turned off, but their actions didn't stop. There was the soft petting, the slow embraces, the lingering kisses. Short naps were interrupted by wandering hands and the drive for more skinship.

"Why now?" Rufus was drawing lazy patterns in the sweat along her back. The sun was tinting the sky and they saw the room slowly lighten.

"Hm?" Yuffie was dozing lightly under his arm.

"Why did you choose now to tell me?" Rufus brushed the hair from her face.

"I knew I loved you a while ago. But I was afraid. We hid from each other. We admitted that much. With our anniversary, I was thinking about the people I know who are married, who were married." Yuffie ran a finger over a faint scar Yuffie found on Rufus's chest.

"My friends all married because they love their partner. My parents were forced into their marriage. I saw what happened. I didn't want that to happen with us. Especially since I do love you. You are a good friend to me. I feel more secure in my love. There was no reason to delay. I just…needed to prepare myself."

"I love you, Yuffie." Rufus replied, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Not too gushy?"

"Just gushy enough."

"I love you, Rufus." Her smile was as radiant as the rising sun.

"Good. Since we ruined our first morning after, I want this one to be a better memory." Rufus lifted away, leaving the bed.

"So walking away stark naked is different from the first time, how, exactly?" Yuffie sat up and scrounged for a shirt, successfully pulling out Rufus's and buttoning half way up before he came back.

"Because I'm coming back." He had pulled on a pair of clean boxers while he snuck away. "And I have a question for you."

"Okay. Fire away."

"Yuffie Shinra," he knelt beside the bed, pulled out a little velvet box, opened it, and said, "Will you marry me, again?"

Star struck, Yuffie found herself only able to nod. Reaching out, she passed the outstretched box, dazzling ring nestled safely inside, to wrap her fingers around his wrist and tug him up and onto the bed. He fought so as not to crush her in their haste.

Once he was balanced on his knees over her, she reached up slowly, cupped his face and gave him a long drawn out kiss.

"That's a yes, then?" Rufus raised an eyebrow, ever so cocky.

"Yes, it's a yes." She held out her left hand and the ring slid on, cool and absolutely perfect. After admiring it for a moment, she commented, "It fits perfectly. How did you know what size?"

He held up his hand, took hers, and interlocked their fingers. Staring up into his blue eyes, Yuffie didn't need him to explain further. He had memorized the feel of her hand the one time they did it and was able to match the size perfectly when he got the ring.

"Love you, Rufus."

"I love you too, Yuffie."

0000000000000000

A year later, they celebrated their marriage with their second wedding. Yuffie wore boots, had no veil and definitely did not have flowers that smelled like the wrong side of a Sahagin. She and Rufus agreed on a compromise for her dress. Where Yuffie wanted a very bright colored dress, Rufus offered to buy that dress for the after party if she wore white for their ceremony. She accepted the terms.

Their friends were all invited and it was held in Aeris's church. There was no one presiding over the ceremony, so Rufus and Yuffie recited the vows they wrote.

"I, Rufus Shinra, take you, Yuffie Shinra, again to be my wife. I promise to love you forever, to be there through the good times and the bad times. To help, to comfort, to help beat anyone that you deem necessary in alleyways. I promise to be your friend, your most loyal confidant and your faithful partner in this lifetime and beyond."

Tears glittered on Yuffie's cheeks as Rufus fell silent. They were, however, very different from the tears she shed on that day two years previously.

"I, Yuffie Shinra, take you, Rufus Shinra, wholeheartedly to be my husband for now and all time. I swear to love and cherish you, to catch you when you fall and to help you stand tall again. I swear to comfort you in times of need, and to share the times of joy. I will always be your friend, confidant and only partner in this world and the next."

The words barely left her lips before Rufus's sealed them with a kiss. He pulled back and dried her tears with the pads of his thumbs as their friends applauded.

"Didn't they say they wrote 'em separately?" Cid's gruff voice carried over to the couple by the water.

"Yes."

"Then why the hell are they so damn similar?" The pilot was scolded for his language.

Yuffie just looked up at her renewed husband and said, "I'm glad we had our negotiations."

"Me too." Rufus wrapped his wife into his arms and held her, intent never to let her go.

"I think we should move."

"What's that, princess?"

"I want to be closer to the school." Her arms wrapped around Rufus's waist. "And a one bedroom place is too small to raise a family."

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THE END

Author's Notes: I hope you enjoyed. If you read it all the way through and liked it, please drop a review to let me know!


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